Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Lake Street Private Wealth LLC

Lake Street Private Wealth LLC reduced its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 23.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 92,183 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 27,662 shares during the period. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during 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 in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 244.1% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE VZ traded up $0.52 on Friday, reaching $38.86. 23,987,092 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,659,684. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The business's fifty day moving average price is $41.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.69. 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 (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The company's revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 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).