Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by IVC Wealth Advisors LLC

IVC Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 23.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,209 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,774 shares during the quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its holdings 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 worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 320 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 762.6% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $39.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $164.89 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.92%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications 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).