ORG Partners LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

ORG Partners LLC cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 32,680 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,635 shares during the quarter. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,095,000 after purchasing an additional 17,855 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $92,445,000 after purchasing an additional 57,583 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on VZ. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $37.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,501,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,710,463. The company has a market cap of $158.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.56 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

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).