SageView Advisory Group LLC Lowers Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

SageView Advisory Group LLC lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 26.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,678 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 12,357 shares during the quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1 %

VZ stock opened at $42.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $179.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $42.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.46 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.37%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 30th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

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).