WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 131,250 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 450 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 1.9% of WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,249,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Krilogy Financial LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 19,481 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 4,877 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 132,370 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,293,000 after purchasing an additional 9,565 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 160,587 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,420,000 after purchasing an additional 16,365 shares during the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 45,299 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,812,000 after purchasing an additional 2,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 6,148 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $38.86 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $163.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.97%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Company 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).