Uncommon Cents Investing LLC Sells 1,508 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Uncommon Cents Investing LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 41,963 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,508 shares during the period. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its position 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. TD Cowen raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America raised their price target 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 lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.4 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $38.86 on Monday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.03 and a 200-day moving average of $41.69. The company has a market cap of $163.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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).