Procyon Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Procyon Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,183 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 50.7% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 41,876 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,357,000 after purchasing an additional 14,090 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,951,000. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 2,596,929 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $84,166,000 after acquiring an additional 131,182 shares in the last quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,491,000. Finally, Sora Investors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $12,154,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on 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. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.77.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.5 %

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $40.82. The company had a trading volume of 14,346,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,857,770. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.99. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The company has a market capitalization of $171.82 billion, a PE ratio of 15.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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).