Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Has $301,000 Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd has reduced its stake in Verizon Communications by 65.4%, now holding 6,637 shares valued at approximately $301,000.
• Verizon recently reported an EPS of $1.22 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations by $0.03, with revenues reaching $34.50 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6775, representing an annualized yield of 6.35% and a payout ratio of 63.17%.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 65.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,637 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 12,523 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $218,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 188,757 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $7,350,000 after acquiring an additional 6,432 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 69,525 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,780,000 after acquiring an additional 20,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,450,058 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $417,897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177,478 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total transaction of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares in the company, valued at $441,352.80. This trade represents a 47.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Bank of America raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.84. 20,824,312 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,044,295. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The firm has a market cap of $180.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.37. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $42.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company's revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.17%.

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).