Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Sells 71,261 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 61.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,484 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 71,261 shares during the quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ossiam increased its position in Verizon Communications by 658.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,361,200 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $50,623,000 after buying an additional 1,181,766 shares in the last quarter. BKA Wealth Consulting Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $297,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3,944.6% in the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,422,736 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $62,297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,362,835 shares in the last quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. now owns 80,219 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,983,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 137,737 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,122,000 after purchasing an additional 2,523 shares in the last quarter. 61.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.21 on Friday, hitting $37.70. 16,222,673 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,169,746. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.49 billion, a PE ratio of 7.60, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $42.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.81.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.27 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 21.26% and a net margin of 15.58%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 53.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 3,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.29, for a total value of $127,888.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,295 shares in the company, valued at $1,772,635.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 3,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.29, for a total value of $127,888.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,772,635.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 23,380 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $888,440.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 49,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,886,130. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 23rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Barclays raised Verizon Communications from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $64.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.09.

Get Our Latest Report on VZ

Verizon Communications Profile

(Free Report)

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).

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