M Holdings Securities Inc. Has $3.39 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

M Holdings Securities Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,831 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 984 shares during the period. M Holdings Securities Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 48,294 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 382,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,303,000 after buying an additional 6,795 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after acquiring an additional 43,472 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $4,333,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 64.6% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,394,921 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $55,783,000 after purchasing an additional 547,384 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.92.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.3 %

VZ opened at $44.32 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.59 and a twelve month high of $47.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.02.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly 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 prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value 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 approximately $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).