WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Sells 2,198 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 214,075 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,198 shares during the quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd 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. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th 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. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $41.00 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $39.96 and its 200 day moving average is $41.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 period last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).