Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 4,156 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. cut its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,805 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 4,156 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.0 %

VZ opened at $41.24 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company’s 50-day moving average is $40.07 and its 200 day moving average is $40.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.77.

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).