Norris Perne & French LLP MI Sells 2,618 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Norris Perne & French LLP MI reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 25.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,485 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,618 shares during the quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.77.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.24. 27,639,192 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,795,164. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.59 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

About Verizon Communications

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).