Waverton Investment Management Ltd Sells 1,766 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Waverton Investment Management Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,492 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,766 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,892,000 after purchasing an additional 48,294 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth $3,376,000. Burney Co. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,463,000 after buying an additional 43,472 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after buying an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $4,333,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.77 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.91 and a 200-day moving average of $41.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.33, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,439.20. This trade represents a 43.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 39,085 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,995 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

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).