Atticus Wealth Management LLC Sells 298 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Atticus Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,314 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 298 shares during the quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $181,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management increased its position in Verizon Communications by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314 shares during the period. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,346,000. WealthTrust Axiom LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 118,806 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,479,000 after buying an additional 2,422 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,131,000 after buying an additional 1,616 shares during the period. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $212,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on VZ shares. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.77.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.0 %

VZ stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $41.24. 27,639,192 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,795,164. The company has a market cap of $173.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).