Oak Asset Management LLC Has $1.88 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Oak Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,918 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,086 shares during the period. Oak Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after purchasing an additional 17,855 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $92,445,000 after purchasing an additional 57,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $38.09 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50-day moving average is $41.23 and its 200-day moving average is $41.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company 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%. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on VZ. Bank of America boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group upped 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. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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).