Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Wagner Wealth Management LLC

Wagner Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 57,684 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 11,425 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for about 0.6% of Wagner Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Wagner Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction 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 approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.88 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.55. 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 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $167.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

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).