Centerpoint Advisors LLC Has $102,000 Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Centerpoint Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 20.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,555 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 647 shares during the period. Centerpoint Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 931,695 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,258,000 after buying an additional 11,002 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,619 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,464,000 after acquiring an additional 2,650 shares in the last quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 16,052 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $642,000 after acquiring an additional 2,981 shares during the period. Blue Chip Partners LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 70.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 9,142 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 3,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 930,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,226,000 after purchasing an additional 49,619 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.58.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly 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 last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current 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 6.61%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 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).