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

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,414 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,163 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th 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 stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 655.5% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.53.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.06 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $185.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given 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 65.46%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).