Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. Cuts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,059 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 762 shares during the period. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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 worth about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on VZ. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $44.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $40.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.79. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $45.36.

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 business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.12%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).