Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC

San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 71.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,369 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 82,160 shares during the quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 762.6% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on VZ. Raymond James raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $38.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $161.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $41.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.76.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS 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 return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

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

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).