Hoylecohen LLC Reduces Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Hoylecohen LLC cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,919 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 14,428 shares during the quarter. Hoylecohen LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management raised its position in Verizon Communications by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 118,806 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,422 shares in the last quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 173.7% during the third quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 652,169 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $21,137,000 after purchasing an additional 413,869 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $212,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.36.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $39.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,418,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,133,217. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

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).