Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Reduces Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 426,751 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 7,925 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $17,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.37 on Friday, hitting $42.86. The stock had a trading volume of 5,470,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,507,504. The stock has a market cap of $180.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.36, a PEG ratio of 4.40 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. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

About Verizon Communications

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).