Texas Yale Capital Corp. Has $581,000 Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Texas Yale Capital Corp. cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,843 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,260 shares during the period. Texas Yale Capital Corp.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $42.08. 10,565,888 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,589,885. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $177.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.71, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.39.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion for 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%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.32%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.23.

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).