Graypoint LLC Sells 3,670 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Graypoint LLC reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 28,983 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,670 shares during the quarter. Graypoint LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,115,932,000 after buying an additional 78,995,341 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,829,675,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,976,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,678,273,000 after purchasing an additional 11,987,691 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 81.3% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 10,604,493 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $540,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,756,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 195.5% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,928,310 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $219,926,000 after purchasing an additional 4,584,012 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on VZ. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ traded down $0.44 on Friday, reaching $39.72. The company had a trading volume of 21,554,994 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,917,470. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.98. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08. The company had revenue of $35.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.60 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.71%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 96.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

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).