Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC Has $2.64 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 21.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,965 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 19,338 shares during the quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 4,527,387 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,400,326 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $920,455,000 after purchasing an additional 4,134,150 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $133,491,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,782.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,974,813 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $149,850,000 after purchasing an additional 3,872,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 104.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,302,051 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $171,839,000 after purchasing an additional 2,703,197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ traded down $0.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $39.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,589,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,183,934. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $40.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.78%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

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 transaction of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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).

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