Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Position Reduced by Resonant Capital Advisors LLC

Resonant Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,866 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 274 shares during the quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.5 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.00 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.57. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.36 billion, a PE ratio of 9.66, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.78%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

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).