Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC Has $432,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 33.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,801 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,367 shares during the period. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.11.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.67 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.59 and a 1-year high of $47.36. The company has a market cap of $183.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.93.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Vandana Venkatesh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.79, for a total transaction of $437,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $633,159.61. The trade was a 40.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 45,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This trade represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,085 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,895 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications 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).