Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC Sells 2,005 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,282 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,005 shares during the period. Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,625,025 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,396,167,000 after buying an additional 930,367 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,027,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,151,714,000 after acquiring an additional 4,527,387 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $1,882,164,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,621,839 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,446,194,000 after purchasing an additional 2,015,139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,400,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $920,455,000 after purchasing an additional 4,134,150 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.74. 10,419,992 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,358,114. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $167.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.47.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.69%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on VZ. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.36.

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).