Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,143 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,490 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fermata Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,240,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.7 %

VZ stock traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $38.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,706,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,753,027. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.80. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS 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 paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.11%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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).