Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 178,844 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 11,518 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 48,294 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,376,000. Burney Co. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares during the period. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,333,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $42.04 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $39.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten research 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, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

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).