Dover Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Dover Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,498 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 990 shares during the period. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 222,366 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after acquiring an additional 48,294 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,376,000. Burney Co. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 186,621 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,463,000 after purchasing an additional 43,472 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,333,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $42.77 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $180.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Argus upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. The trade was a 30.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

About Verizon Communications

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).