TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 380 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,153 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 380 shares during the period. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $154,000. Telemus Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 47.4% during the 3rd quarter. Telemus Capital LLC now owns 28,907 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $937,000 after acquiring an additional 9,299 shares during the period. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 262,354 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,503,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 15.5% during the third quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,352 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JB Capital LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 28.8% during the third quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 131,033 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,247,000 after purchasing an additional 29,311 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

VZ traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $38.89. 13,195,563 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,003,748. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.90. The firm has a market cap of $163.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. 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 earnings results 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 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.84%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction 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 $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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).