OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC Has $5.45 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,168 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 11,219 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $633,159.61. This trade represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total value of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. The trade was a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,085 shares of company stock worth $2,233,295. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.90 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.91. 23,349,126 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 25,801,322. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $43.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.99. The company has a market cap of $176.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.12, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.47%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Tigress Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.35.

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).