Ieq Capital LLC Sells 94,344 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Ieq Capital LLC cut its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 53.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,772 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 94,344 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 19,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $774,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. Financial Sense Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 145,570 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,821,000 after purchasing an additional 12,916 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 64.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,394,921 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $55,783,000 after acquiring an additional 547,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keene & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 85,373 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $45.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.91 and a 200 day moving average of $41.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on VZ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Finally, DZ Bank raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 45,675 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,664.50. This represents a 30.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. 0.02% 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).