Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Position Trimmed by Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC

Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,609 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,379 shares during the period. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $39.88 on Monday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.80%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, 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 transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications 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).