Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Position Lessened by Soltis Investment Advisors LLC

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,006 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 20,454 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,691 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 4,201 shares during the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $181,000. MBA Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 15,781 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,797 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE VZ traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $40.48. 15,176,135 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,408,189. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.56. The company has a market cap of $170.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Activity

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % 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 90 days, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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).