Wealth Alliance Has $3.22 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wealth Alliance cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 85,314 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,980 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $2,101,000. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 5,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 174.0% during the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 91,776 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,675,000 after buying an additional 58,283 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,194,111 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $60,828,000 after buying an additional 113,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $567,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded down $0.30 on Tuesday, reaching $39.81. 8,580,943 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,633,932. The company has a fifty day moving average of $40.58 and a 200-day moving average of $38.10. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The company has a market capitalization of $167.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The firm had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The business’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 96.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Wolfe Research raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.50.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).