Atlas Private Wealth Advisors Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Atlas Private Wealth Advisors reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 47.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,418 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 29,127 shares during the quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors' holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $311,000. First Merchants Corp grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 24,775 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $991,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 720,662 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $28,819,000 after acquiring an additional 88,937 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 45,192 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 3,473 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.6%

VZ traded down $0.24 on Wednesday, hitting $41.61. The company had a trading volume of 18,586,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,117,501. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.59 and a 52-week high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 13.14%. The firm had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on VZ. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $212,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,859.84. This trade represents a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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).