Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 19.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,092 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 8,971 shares during the period. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position 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 worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 938 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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 report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $38.32. The company had a trading volume of 24,608,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,441,518. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $161.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.73.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.07%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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).