Kelleher Financial Advisors Sells 395 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Kelleher Financial Advisors decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,361 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 395 shares during the quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 244.1% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $38.95 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $163.97 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

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).