Beacon Financial Group Sells 9,003 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Beacon Financial Group reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 152,241 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 9,003 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Group’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,975,000 after purchasing an additional 644,761 shares during the period. Alpha Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $224,000. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 19.5% during the third quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 7,302 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 1,194 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,457 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 41,188 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,850,000 after acquiring an additional 5,741 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 over the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $40.48 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve 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 company has a market cap of $170.38 billion, a PE ratio of 9.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $40.10 and its 200 day moving average is $41.56.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS 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 $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target 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. Scotiabank boosted their price objective 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. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Ten 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

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).