Spire Wealth Management Sells 7,637 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Spire Wealth Management decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 50,017 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,637 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 22,227 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $889,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $266,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 99,845 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,993,000 after purchasing an additional 4,922 shares during the period. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,617 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 119,108 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,763,000 after buying an additional 3,103 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $40.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.57. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $168.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.66, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 period last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. 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 target price for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

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).