Signet Financial Management LLC Trims Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Signet Financial Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 62.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 20,415 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 33,261 shares during the period. Signet Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 48,058 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 3,676 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 9,113 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares in the last quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 30,787 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,812 shares during the period. Bar Harbor Wealth Management grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 165,633 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,624,000 after buying an additional 7,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 244,342 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,771,000 after buying an additional 3,733 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Scotiabank upped 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 note on Friday, October 18th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.7 %

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $38.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,709,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,753,027. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.29 and a 200-day moving average of $41.80. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $160.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.11%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).