Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Montag A & Associates Inc.

Montag A & Associates Inc. cut its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,817 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 13,975 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 over the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $172.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.57.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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).