TRUE Private Wealth Advisors Has $2.14 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

TRUE Private Wealth Advisors reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,030 shares during the quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Texas Yale Capital Corp. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 20,590 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $823,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 949,634 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,976,000 after buying an additional 55,003 shares in the last quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 255,289 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $10,209,000 after buying an additional 8,570 shares during the last quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 13,623 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tandem Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $405,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $42.09 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.06. The company has a market cap of $177.17 billion, a PE ratio of 10.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36.

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 the consensus estimate 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 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $48.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Argus raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.85.

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).