Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA Sells 293 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,938 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 293 shares during the period. Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 3,233.3% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 970 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $39.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,022,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,974,402. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.43 and a 200-day moving average of $38.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.72%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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).