Hudock Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Hudock Inc. lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,754 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,262 shares during the quarter. Hudock Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 4,585 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 104,251 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,169,000 after acquiring an additional 1,993 shares during the period. Consolidated Planning Corp raised its position in Verizon Communications by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 19,861 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $794,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares during the period. MFG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,242,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Verizon Communications by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,676,920 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $67,060,000 after acquiring an additional 186,176 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on VZ. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $40.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $170.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $40.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.56. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.69%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

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).