World Equity Group Inc. Sells 1,437 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

World Equity Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,191 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,437 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $772,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $46,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on VZ. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Citigroup increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $41.53. 1,021,538 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,524,188. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.40 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.43. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Verizon Communications 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).