U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 135,720 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 52.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 121,397 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 135,720 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 69,620 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,256,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 18,280 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $592,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth $154,000. Buffington Mohr McNeal boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 30.1% during the third quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 7,154 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 1,657 shares during the period. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 25.6% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 3,504 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of VZ traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.89. The company had a trading volume of 13,195,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,003,748. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.84%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Profile

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).