Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Neumann Capital Management LLC

Neumann Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 41,809 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 710 shares during the period. Neumann Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $216,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,711,309 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $177,799,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 184.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,428,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $217,087,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,258 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $274,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656,396 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VZ shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.17 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 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. The company has a market cap of $164.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.64.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).