Westhampton Capital LLC Trims Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Westhampton Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Westhampton Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 50.7% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 41,876 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,357,000 after buying an additional 14,090 shares during the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $12,713,000. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 46.3% during the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 26,932 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $873,000 after buying an additional 8,526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $631,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded down $0.98 on Tuesday, reaching $40.76. 7,681,119 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,828,984. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.07 and a 200-day moving average of $40.06. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The firm has a market cap of $171.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.14.

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).