Diversify Advisory Services LLC Sells 36,783 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 25.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 109,890 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 36,783 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 444,460 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $18,330,000 after acquiring an additional 39,870 shares during the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.6% during the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 48,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,990,000 after buying an additional 3,412 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.1% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 679,435 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $28,020,000 after acquiring an additional 56,534 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 16,246.1% during the second quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 93,990 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,876,000 after acquiring an additional 93,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 29,857 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 3,792 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $38.86 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $41.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.69. The stock has a market cap of $163.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.54.

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).