Stablepoint Partners LLC Has $4.63 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Stablepoint Partners LLC decreased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 115,884 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,795 shares during the period. Stablepoint Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.29.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

VZ stock opened at $39.54 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.61. The company has a market cap of $166.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

About Verizon Communications

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).