Wealth Alliance Sells 1,980 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wealth Alliance decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,314 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,980 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.81. 8,580,943 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,633,932. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.37 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on VZ. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).