Burt Wealth Advisors Sells 1,448 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Burt Wealth Advisors lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,842 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,448 shares during the quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 39,403 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 30,981 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,328,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,730 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $572,000 after acquiring an additional 2,913 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,490,744 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $63,894,000 after purchasing an additional 321,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,308,611 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $193,500,000 after purchasing an additional 432,422 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Ten 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares in the company, valued at $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.81 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $184.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.28 and a 200-day moving average of $41.75. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year 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 (EPS) 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 firm posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).