Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 22.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 233,535 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 68,870 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $10,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.02 on Friday, hitting $43.10. 16,557,678 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,882,436. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $42.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 63.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $441,352.80. This represents a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).