Merrion Investment Management Co LLC Decreases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Merrion Investment Management Co LLC decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 17.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,345 shares during the quarter. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 304,700,845 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,521,461,000 after acquiring an additional 13,959,954 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 330,221,086 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,821,462,000 after purchasing an additional 8,570,818 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 211.6% during the 2nd quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,515,955 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $584,800,000 after purchasing an additional 7,820,187 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 46,131,882 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,341,192,000 after purchasing an additional 6,042,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.3% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 10,604,493 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $540,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,756,222 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.96% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.3 %

VZ opened at $38.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $37.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.34. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.55 and a twelve month high of $55.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.38.

Want More Great Investing Ideas?

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 25.80%. The firm had revenue of $34.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 9th. This represents a $2.61 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.80%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 56.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 7th. Credit Suisse Group cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications to $43.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 27th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 24th. Tigress Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $68.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Friday, December 16th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Verizon Communications from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.11.

Verizon Communications Profile

(Get Rating)

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, offers communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. Its Consumer segment provides postpaid and prepaid service plans; internet access on notebook computers and tablets; wireless equipment, including smartphones and other handsets; and wireless-enabled internet devices, such as tablets, and other wireless-enabled connected devices comprising smart watches.