Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Wright Investors Service Inc.

Wright Investors Service Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 41.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,814 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 15,646 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,548,163,000 after acquiring an additional 5,936,009 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $216,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711,309 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $177,799,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $274,052,000 after buying an additional 2,656,396 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,289,054,000 after buying an additional 2,081,241 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.33. The stock had a trading volume of 15,679,893 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,747,896. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $161.35 billion, a PE ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $41.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.78.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.07%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Tigress Financial increased their price objective 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. Citigroup increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.54.

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).