Eldridge Investment Advisors Inc. Has $345,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Eldridge Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,155 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 387 shares during the period. Eldridge Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Selective Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 16,564 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $38.89. The company had a trading volume of 13,160,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,017,807. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.74. The company has a market capitalization of $163.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

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).