Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 9,785 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 22,915 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 2,542 shares in the last quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the first quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 20,968 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $880,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.5% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,948,472 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $459,398,000 after acquiring an additional 56,242 shares during the last quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the first quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 61,691 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,589,000 after acquiring an additional 2,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Saxon Interests Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.4% during the first quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 15,934 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $669,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.12. The stock had a trading volume of 6,643,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,843,104. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.16 and a 200 day moving average of $40.11. The company has a market capitalization of $173.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.41. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.47%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

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).