Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Kraft Asset Management LLC

Kraft Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,017 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,195 shares during the quarter. Kraft Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $230,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. now owns 6,269 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 31.9% during the fourth quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 215,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,598,000 after acquiring an additional 52,000 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 20,713 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,970 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 7,349 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,357 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $38.95 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $163.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.96%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Verizon Communications 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).