Spirit of America Management Corp NY Trims Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Spirit of America Management Corp NY cut its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Spirit of America Management Corp NY’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after acquiring an additional 5,936,009 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $216,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711,309 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 184.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $217,087,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $274,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656,396 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

VZ stock opened at $39.83 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.56. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $167.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.80%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on VZ. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were 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 approximately $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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).