Brave Asset Management Inc. Sells 590 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Brave Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,823 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 590 shares during the period. Brave Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. One Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 34.9% in the 2nd quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 11,346 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 2,937 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $2,015,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 41,924 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,729,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.9% during the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 26,212 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 2,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $348,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of VZ opened at $38.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.76.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VZ shares. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.54.

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).