Allen Wealth Management LLC Sells 400 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Allen Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,552 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 67,597 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,694,000 after purchasing an additional 3,161 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 224,537 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,979,000 after buying an additional 35,010 shares in the last quarter. Martin Worley Group bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth about $201,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 14,587 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 3,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 819.7% in the fourth quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 10,852 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 9,672 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. 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 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value 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 represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total value of $437,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was 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 valued at $2,020,895. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE VZ opened at $44.74 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $188.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.59 and a 52 week high of $47.36. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $42.48 and a 200-day moving average of $42.10.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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 last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.06%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

About Verizon Communications

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).