Financial Security Advisor Inc. Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Financial Security Advisor Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 21.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,992 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 11,862 shares during the quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Hilltop Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC now owns 5,201 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 163,615 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,543,000 after purchasing an additional 14,866 shares in the last quarter. Fusion Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Fusion Capital LLC now owns 6,087 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 971 shares during the last quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. now owns 44,802 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,792,000 after buying an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Linscomb Wealth Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 178,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,155,000 after buying an additional 3,172 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $181.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).