Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Salvus Wealth Management LLC

Salvus Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 35.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,751 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 4,797 shares during the period. Salvus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 61,749 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,469,000 after buying an additional 1,460 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 20,001 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,914 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046 shares during the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 25,346 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 244.1% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $38.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $161.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.73. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.07%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).