MONECO Advisors LLC Sells 4,626 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

MONECO Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,434 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 4,626 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the 3rd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $39.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.74. The stock has a market cap of $166.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).