WealthShield Partners LLC Sells 581 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

WealthShield Partners LLC decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,624 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 581 shares during the quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 25,750 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 5,743 shares during the period. RWC Asset Management LLP grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 16,863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 439 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 worth $15,303,000 after acquiring an additional 6,795 shares during the last quarter. Genesis Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $210,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.77 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.33, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $39.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. 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 data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 over the last ninety days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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).