Atlas Private Wealth Advisors Sells 408 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Atlas Private Wealth Advisors lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,545 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 408 shares during the quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,461,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in 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 during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 244.1% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.54 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $166.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on VZ. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.29.

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).