Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC Sells 1,246 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,437 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,246 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 0.5% of Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fermata Advisors LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% during 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 boosted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of VZ opened at $39.04 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $164.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.97 and its 200-day moving average is $41.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).