Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC

Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,951 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 327 shares during the period. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $38.78. The stock had a trading volume of 6,089,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,786,867. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.73. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $163.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Company 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).