Shore Point Advisors LLC Sells 893 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Shore Point Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,238 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 893 shares during the quarter. Shore Point Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Baugh & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Baugh & Associates LLC now owns 128,066 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,939,000 after purchasing an additional 5,651 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 15,987 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $612,000 after buying an additional 4,014 shares during the last quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $218,000. Strong Tower Advisory Services increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 47,643 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,905,000 after acquiring an additional 4,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Management Partners LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 10,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.4 %

VZ stock opened at $38.86 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $163.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank upped their price target 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. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.54.

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).