Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co Has $6.78 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lowered its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 169,550 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 37,498 shares during the quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on VZ. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.31 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $39.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.65. The company has a market cap of $182.31 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.26%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.88, for a total transaction of $319,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $262,809.20. This trade represents a 54.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Profile

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).