Kestra Advisory Services LLC Has $35.41 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Kestra Advisory Services LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 885,393 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 162,454 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $35,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 112,289 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,490,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 473,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $18,947,000 after buying an additional 57,800 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 473.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 236,232 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,447,000 after buying an additional 195,067 shares during the last quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 52,770 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after buying an additional 9,420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 30,607 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after buying an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,159.61. This represents a 40.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,085 shares of company stock worth $2,020,895 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.67 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $183.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.93. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36.

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 the consensus estimate 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 posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.11.

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).