Perpetual Ltd Decreases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Perpetual Ltd reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 81,178 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,963 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 762.6% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.04 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.68. The firm has a market cap of $164.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.46. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. UBS Group raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.54.

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).