Channel Wealth LLC Sells 1,815 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Channel Wealth LLC lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 20.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,815 shares during the quarter. Channel Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 244.1% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $38.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $161.32 billion, a PE ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.11 and its 200 day moving average is $41.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.07%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Tigress Financial increased 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.54.

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).