Forsta AP Fonden Sells 18,400 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Forsta AP Fonden cut its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,035,950 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 18,400 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $41,428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 57.2% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,303 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,763 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $129,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 112,486 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,639,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 99,508 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.44 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.61. 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 company has a market cap of $170.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 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%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 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 paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. DZ Bank upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

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).