Wealthspire Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 151,413 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,528 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,827,584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $59,234,000 after buying an additional 246,475 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 110,834 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,592,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 216,117 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,004,000 after acquiring an additional 3,158 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 32,653 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 7,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 41,509 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,345,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.48. The company had a trading volume of 10,079,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,741,629. The stock has a market cap of $166.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.01. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).