DeDora Capital Inc. Has $1.03 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

DeDora Capital Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,514 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 4,040 shares during the period. DeDora Capital Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. WealthTrust Axiom LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $4,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,422 shares during the period. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. raised 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 during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 4th 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. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares during the period. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed 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 objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $38.89. The company had a trading volume of 13,195,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,003,748. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $163.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.79.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).