Corrado Advisors LLC Sells 2,268 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Corrado Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,948 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,268 shares during the period. Corrado Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Austin Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the third quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 91,092 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,091,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the third quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,505 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,968 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $43.16 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.68. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.69 billion, a PE ratio of 10.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).