International Assets Investment Management LLC Sells 4,714,415 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

International Assets Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 97.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 101,119 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 4,714,415 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 75,252.9% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 12,810 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 12,793 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 11,657 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,999 shares during the period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 180.4% during the second quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,180 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 17,486 shares during the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $1,237,000. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.8% in the second quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 137,520 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,671,000 after purchasing an additional 17,742 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE VZ traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $38.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,188,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,811,141. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.85. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.56 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.01%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).