Mather Group LLC. Has $896,000 Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mather Group LLC. decreased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,400 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 608 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $896,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newton One Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 30,383 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares during the period. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 696.8% during the 4th quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 9,394 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 8,215 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 54.9% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 11,388 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 4,037 shares during the period. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 1,682 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.83 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $167.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.62, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.56. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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).