Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 11,463 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Foster & Motley Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,679 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 11,463 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 780 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 655.5% in the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.3 %

VZ stock traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $39.75. The company had a trading volume of 14,381,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,894,119. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $167.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.13, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $40.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.82%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Argus upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Company 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).