F&V Capital Management LLC Has $9.33 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

F&V Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 233,176 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,520 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for 2.5% of F&V Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. F&V Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VZ. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 7,369 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Optas LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Optas LLC now owns 14,870 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $595,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Holistic Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Holistic Planning LLC now owns 14,857 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $594,000 after acquiring an additional 1,142 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,888 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 271,744 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $10,867,000 after purchasing an additional 14,105 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on VZ. UBS Group raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.00 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $168.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total value of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).