Atria Investments Inc Cuts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Atria Investments Inc trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 362,484 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 9,929 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $14,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $232,389,000 after purchasing an additional 39,403 shares in the last quarter. Solitude Financial Services lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.8% during the third quarter. Solitude Financial Services now owns 27,944 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 3,809 shares during the period. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,759 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.8% in the third quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 73,592 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,305,000 after acquiring an additional 5,970 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $42.87 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $180.45 billion, a PE ratio of 10.35, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.76.

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 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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).