Financial Partners Group Inc Has $207,000 Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Financial Partners Group Inc trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,184 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 389 shares during the quarter. Financial Partners Group Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fermata Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the third quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the third quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 17,491 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.41 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $165.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.61 and its 200 day moving average is $41.57.

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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.88%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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).