Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 308,277 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 27,793 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,015,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 307,514 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $12,682,000 after purchasing an additional 29,082 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.3% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 36,830 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,519,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.7% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 152,304 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $6,281,000 after purchasing an additional 24,016 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.1% in the second quarter. Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC now owns 90,644 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $3,738,000 after purchasing an additional 5,235 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Ten research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $38.86. 23,987,092 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,659,684. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $45.36. 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 market cap of $163.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $41.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.69.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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).