Empower Advisory Group LLC Decreases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,058,512 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 214,562 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $82,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $42.77. The company had a trading volume of 25,452,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,105,430. The firm has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank lifted 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

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).