Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Eudaimonia Advisors LLC

Eudaimonia Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 27.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,692 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,860 shares during the period. Eudaimonia Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Element Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $292,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 49,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 3,487 shares during the period. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,886 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,452 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 17,854 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110 shares during the period. Finally, Stockman Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 143,828 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,422,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.39. 7,062,450 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,112,299. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).