Commonwealth Financial Services LLC Has $455,000 Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Commonwealth Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 54.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,388 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 4,037 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,892,000 after acquiring an additional 48,294 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after purchasing an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was 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 represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.00 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market cap of $168.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.66, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.61 and a 200-day moving average of $41.57.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.78%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

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).