M Holdings Securities Inc. Has $136,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

M Holdings Securities Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 96.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,392 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 82,423 shares during the quarter. M Holdings Securities Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $232,389,000 after purchasing an additional 39,403 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,790,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $880,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.9% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 29,535 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.5% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 684,908 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $30,759,000 after acquiring an additional 59,387 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 $44.06 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The business has a fifty day moving average of $41.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.00. The stock has a market cap of $185.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $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 Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

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 shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last three months. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on VZ. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.53.

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).