CWA Asset Management Group LLC Sells 22,662 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 54.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,896 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 22,662 shares during the quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $756,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 75,252.9% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 12,810 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 12,793 shares during the last quarter. First Foundation Advisors grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 20.7% during the second quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 11,657 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,999 shares during the period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 180.4% in the second quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,180 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 17,486 shares in the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,237,000. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 137,520 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,671,000 after buying an additional 17,742 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com lowered 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 report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $38.92 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.47 and a 200-day moving average of $41.85. The firm has a market cap of $163.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.78, a P/E/G 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 company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 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).