By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
MBA Advisors LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,781 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 873 shares during the period. MBA Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $631,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 17,491 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 91,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,091,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,505 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on VZ
Insider Activity at Verizon Communications
In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %
Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.88 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $167.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.55.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.80%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.
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).
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