M Holdings Securities Inc. Lowers Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

by · The Cerbat Gem

M Holdings Securities Inc. cut its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 73.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,950 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 67,922 shares during the quarter. M Holdings Securities Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VZ. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Avion Wealth grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 208.2% in the second quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 752 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 61.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $39.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 7th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Tigress Financial reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $64.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.83.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on VZ

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE VZ opened at $36.99 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.61. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $42.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $155.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.46, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.58% and a return on equity of 21.26%. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.19%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 53.63%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

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

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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