Beacon Financial Advisory LLC Has $1.02 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Beacon Financial Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,493 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,663 shares during the quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Adero Partners LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 6,527 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares during the period. Caitlin John LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 43,924 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $906,000. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 19,954 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $798,000 after buying an additional 2,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trilogy Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 5,506 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $40.14 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $168.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.44 and a 200-day moving average of $41.54. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications 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).