Grandview Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Grandview Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,853 shares during the period. Grandview Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $38.09 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.78. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $160.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

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).