Wright Investors Service Inc. Cuts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wright Investors Service Inc. lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 41.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,814 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 15,646 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $872,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $216,266,000 after buying an additional 4,711,309 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $177,799,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $274,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,656,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,289,054,000 after acquiring an additional 2,081,241 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.7 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $38.09 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.23 and a 200 day moving average of $41.78. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.54.

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).