Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC Lowers Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 20,548 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,795 shares during the period. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,781,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 25,699 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,154,000 after acquiring an additional 6,273 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 11.5% during the third quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 27,604 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,240,000 after purchasing an additional 2,843 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Hawaii boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 51,960 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,334,000 after purchasing an additional 3,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concentric Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Concentric Wealth Management LLC now owns 79,730 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,581,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.59 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.02. The company has a market cap of $183.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications 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 owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.53.

Verizon Communications Company 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).