Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC Sells 1,059 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,023 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,059 shares during the period. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $241,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,711,309 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 184.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $217,087,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $274,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656,396 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE VZ opened at $39.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.85 and a 200-day moving average of $41.61.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Eleven equities 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.29.

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).