Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Decreases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,583 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,582 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 1.3% of Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,233.3% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $39.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,942,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,223,914. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.52 and a 200 day moving average of $38.44. The company has a market capitalization of $166.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $979,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,201 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,200.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).