Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,563 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,734 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third 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 during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 244.1% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.04 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.68. The stock has a market cap of $164.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year 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.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.94%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VZ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank lifted their price target 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. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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).