M. Kraus & Co Decreases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

M. Kraus & Co reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 59,620 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,528 shares during the quarter. M. Kraus & Co’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,530 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,174 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 221,712 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,866,000 after purchasing an additional 31,269 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 67,186 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,687,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 184.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $217,087,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $232,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $38.33 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $41.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.76. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $161.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).