Wendell David Associates Inc. Sells 765 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wendell David Associates Inc. decreased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,567 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 765 shares during the period. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 244.1% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 791 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $38.95 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.66. The company has a market capitalization of $163.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.54.

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).