Peterson Wealth Services Trims Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Peterson Wealth Services trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,829 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 4,280 shares during the quarter. Peterson Wealth Services’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,387,576.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.25 on Thursday, hitting $40.03. The stock had a trading volume of 3,812,463 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,503,939. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $168.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.17. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.08. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

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).