Corrado Advisors LLC Has $1.57 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Corrado Advisors LLC reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 41,763 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,793 shares during the quarter. Corrado Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 320.0% during the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded up $1.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $39.69. The stock had a trading volume of 25,970,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,270,385. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 96.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

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).