CMG Global Holdings LLC Has $1.33 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

CMG Global Holdings LLC cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 34,130 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,060 shares during the quarter. CMG Global Holdings LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank raised 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. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $166.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.46. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).