Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. Sells 1,314 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,946 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,314 shares during the quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE VZ opened at $39.41 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $165.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.69 and its 200 day moving average is $41.58.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

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).