Eudaimonia Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Eudaimonia Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 56.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,803 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 23,979 shares during the quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,027,542 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $3,151,714,000 after buying an additional 4,527,387 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 17.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Comerica Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $133,491,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3,782.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,974,813 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $149,850,000 after purchasing an additional 3,872,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 104.0% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,302,051 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $171,839,000 after buying an additional 2,703,197 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:VZ traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $40.49. 17,662,803 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,634,990. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.19. The firm has a market cap of $170.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.12, a PEG ratio of 2.93 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.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.57%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

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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