Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Good Life Advisors LLC

Good Life Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 65,313 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 4,201 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.5 %

VZ stock opened at $41.21 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.58. The firm has a market cap of $173.49 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.58%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares in the company, valued at $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).