Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Position Cut by Latitude Advisors LLC

Latitude Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,096 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 914 shares during the quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $41.36 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.17 and a 200-day moving average of $41.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.31 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.56%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

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).