Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Position Lessened by Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 188,579 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 15,489 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,913,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 50.7% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 41,876 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,357,000 after acquiring an additional 14,090 shares during the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $212,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $12,713,000. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 46.3% in the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 26,932 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $873,000 after buying an additional 8,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $631,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. 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, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.69 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.05. 9,469,824 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,843,180. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.06. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42. The firm has a market cap of $172.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

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).