Beta Wealth Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Beta Wealth Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 90.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,822 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 78,242 shares during the period. Beta Wealth Group Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,882,164,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,527,387 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $133,491,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,782.4% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.31 on Friday, hitting $39.74. 10,419,992 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,358,114. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.49. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six 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 has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.36.

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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