Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. Sells 2,081 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,734 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,081 shares during the quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.5% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 838,292 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $34,571,000 after buying an additional 20,390 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 471,287 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $19,436,000 after acquiring an additional 24,690 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 103.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,030,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $42,508,000 after purchasing an additional 524,360 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 122,203 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,040,000 after purchasing an additional 8,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $1,852,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.44.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $40.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $171.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).