Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV Lowers Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,139 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 568 shares during the quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after acquiring an additional 5,936,009 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,289,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081,241 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,305,727,000 after buying an additional 565,842 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 18,161,563 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $815,636,000 after buying an additional 502,949 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 12,493,998 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $561,105,000 after buying an additional 46,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $178.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $39.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.59.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

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).