United Asset Strategies Inc. Sells 68,659 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

United Asset Strategies Inc. reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 82.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,226 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 68,659 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 174.0% during the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,675,000 after purchasing an additional 58,283 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $60,828,000 after purchasing an additional 113,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $567,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.17. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The business’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Tigress Financial upped their price target 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. Wolfe Research raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

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).