Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Reduces Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 25.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 304,163 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 103,722 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $11,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 320.0% in the third quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 1,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.9 %

NYSE:VZ traded up $1.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.71. The stock had a trading volume of 7,129,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,013,164. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.53 and a 200 day moving average of $38.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $166.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).