Smith Anglin Financial LLC Sells 490 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Smith Anglin Financial LLC trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,202 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 490 shares during the quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after buying an additional 4,711,309 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in 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 worth $217,087,000 after buying an additional 3,519,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in 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 worth $274,052,000 after buying an additional 2,656,396 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $38.51 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $41.17 and its 200 day moving average is $41.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.04%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank raised their target price 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. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised 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 note on Monday, September 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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).