Westside Investment Management Inc. Sells 334 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Westside Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 33.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 650 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 334 shares during the quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $27,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.1% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 41,068 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 3,079 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.8% in the third quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 22,867 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 7,904 shares in the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $218,000. Kenfarb & CO. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 56.0% in the third quarter. Kenfarb & CO. now owns 22,655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 8,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JT Stratford LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 135.3% in the third quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 36,242 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 20,840 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.12 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.12. The stock has a market cap of $173.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month 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) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.14.

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).