Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Courier Capital LLC

Courier Capital LLC reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,311 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,991 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 48,058 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,922,000 after buying an additional 3,676 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 9,113 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520 shares during the last quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 30,787 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,812 shares during the period. Bar Harbor Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 165,633 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,624,000 after purchasing an additional 7,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 244,342 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,771,000 after purchasing an additional 3,733 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $38.09 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 3.05 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. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.78.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 7.11%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 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).