FCG Investment Co Decreases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

FCG Investment Co trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,105 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 6,901 shares during the period. FCG Investment Co’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 worth $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,289,054,000 after acquiring an additional 2,081,241 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,581,848,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106,887 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,305,727,000 after purchasing an additional 565,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 18,161,563 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $815,636,000 after purchasing an additional 502,949 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6 %

VZ stock opened at $39.17 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.64. The company has a market capitalization of $164.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders 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 6.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.54.

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).