Financial Security Advisor Inc. Sells 11,360 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Financial Security Advisor Inc. reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 25.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,632 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 11,360 shares during the period. Financial Security Advisor Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,127 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 4,360 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $158,000. Impact Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $265,000. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 30,607 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 21,500 shares of company stock valued at $938,400 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $41.63. 20,156,157 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,246,153. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.52 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.38. 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 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.61.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI raised Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.00.

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).