Stablepoint Partners LLC Lowers Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Stablepoint Partners LLC decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 115,884 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,795 shares during the quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $216,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,711,309 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 184.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $217,087,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,258 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $274,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656,396 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $39.54 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. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.61. The firm has a market cap of $166.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.85%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Eleven equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.29.

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).