MONECO Advisors LLC Sells 9,348 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

MONECO Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,219 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 9,348 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,892,000 after buying an additional 48,294 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth $3,376,000. Burney Co. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after buying an additional 43,472 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,503,000 after buying an additional 1,026,930 shares during the period. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $4,333,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $42.77 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.62. The company has a market capitalization of $180.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.33, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lifted 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. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).