Physicians Financial Services Inc. Has $1.30 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Physicians Financial Services Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,615 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,946 shares during the period. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 48,294 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,376,000. Burney Co. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,463,000 after buying an additional 43,472 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,333,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

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 stock was 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. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $42.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $178.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.38%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

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).