Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 3,040 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,927 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,040 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $78,975,000 after acquiring an additional 644,761 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 857,524 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $38,511,000 after acquiring an additional 55,411 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $224,000. Evanson Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC now owns 5,693 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 373,419 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,770,000 after buying an additional 24,557 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $40.14 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.99 billion, a PE ratio of 9.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.75%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 65.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).