Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Purchases 10,569 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 508,127 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,569 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $19,156,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,027,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,151,714,000 after purchasing an additional 4,527,387 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 17.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,400,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $920,455,000 after buying an additional 4,134,150 shares during the period. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $133,491,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,782.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,974,813 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $149,850,000 after acquiring an additional 3,872,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 104.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,302,051 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $171,839,000 after purchasing an additional 2,703,197 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,942,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,223,914. The stock has a market cap of $166.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.74%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Company 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).