Armor Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Armor Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,890 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 900 shares during the period. Armor Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $316,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 105,702 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,227,000 after purchasing an additional 16,349 shares in the last quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 55,556 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,846 shares in the last quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 43,953 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,758,000 after purchasing an additional 3,474 shares in the last quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,141 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $4,333,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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 target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.94 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.65, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.56.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

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).