Romano Brothers AND Company decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,437 shares during the quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC now owns 6,921 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Kelly Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Kelly Financial Services LLC now owns 6,579 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 12,026 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 17,041 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J2 Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $636,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.54.
Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.4 %
Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $38.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $163.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a fifty day moving average of $41.03 and a 200-day moving average of $41.69.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. 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).
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