Everett Harris & Co. CA Sells 22,293 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Everett Harris & Co. CA reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 552,288 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 22,293 shares during the quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $24,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 68.0% in the second quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 9,301 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 3,765 shares in the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 100.0% during the second quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 10,615 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $459,000 after buying an additional 5,308 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 142.2% during the second quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 17,234 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $746,000 after buying an additional 10,119 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 43.7% during the 2nd quarter. Heritage Financial Services LLC now owns 8,911 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 2,709 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.43.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE VZ opened at $39.80 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.39 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $167.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.34.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.