Spire Wealth Management Decreases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Spire Wealth Management lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 50,017 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,637 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 22,227 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $889,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $266,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 99,845 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,993,000 after buying an additional 4,922 shares during the period. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,617 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 119,108 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,763,000 after buying an additional 3,103 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Ten 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.00 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.57. The firm has a market cap of $168.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.78%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).