Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,143 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $306,000. Mcdonald Partners LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 79,806 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,191,000 after purchasing an additional 3,526 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 31,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 3,451 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Trust Co. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 13,703 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 79,600 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,183,000 after purchasing an additional 4,418 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on VZ. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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 note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $42.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $39.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

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).