Optimum Investment Advisors Has $219,000 Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Optimum Investment Advisors cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,475 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fox Run Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 60.7% during the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 20,386 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $815,000 after buying an additional 7,702 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $78,389,000. Umpqua Bank increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 59,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,270,000 after buying an additional 5,263 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 100.3% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intellus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $290,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.7 %

VZ opened at $44.06 on Friday. 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 $41.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

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 EPS. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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).