Atlantic Family Wealth LLC Buys Shares of 9,027 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Atlantic Family Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 9,027 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $361,000. Verizon Communications accounts for 0.4% of Atlantic Family Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.0% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $78,975,000 after purchasing an additional 644,761 shares during the period. Alpha Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $232,389,000 after purchasing an additional 39,403 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.8% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 22,340 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $958,000 after purchasing an additional 3,370 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $898,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $42.77 on Friday. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $39.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.33, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

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).