Westhampton Capital LLC Sells 700 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Westhampton Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Westhampton Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded down $0.98 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $40.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,681,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,828,984. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. 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 company has a market cap of $171.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $40.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.06.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. 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).