Eads & Heald Wealth Management Decreases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Eads & Heald Wealth Management cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,238 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 667 shares during the period. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Genesis Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $279,000. Red Spruce Capital LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 84,640 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,385,000 after buying an additional 965 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 13,984 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 122,240 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,667,000 after acquiring an additional 4,588 shares during the period. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,756,413 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $70,239,000 after acquiring an additional 261,401 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.7 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $164.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $41.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.94%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.54.

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).