Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE reduced its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,427,100 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 65,830 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $109,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nikulski Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.9% during the third quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 5,697 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. Goldstone Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $449,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 69,205 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,477 shares during the last quarter. Solidarity Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Solidarity Wealth LLC now owns 167,599 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,527,000 after purchasing an additional 5,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.2% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,463 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 2.2 %

NYSE VZ traded up $0.91 on Thursday, reaching $42.19. The stock had a trading volume of 9,407,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,513,166. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.67 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.32. The company has a market capitalization of $177.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

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).