Santori & Peters Inc. Sells 301 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Santori & Peters Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,418 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 301 shares during the quarter. Santori & Peters Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Cullinan Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 65.7% in the third quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 20,550 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $898,000 after purchasing an additional 8,150 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 12,043 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 63,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,843,000 after acquiring an additional 5,740 shares during the last quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC now owns 32,586 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $898,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6 %

VZ stock traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $42.11. The company had a trading volume of 1,806,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,520,359. 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 52 week low of $33.34 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $177.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.62, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $43.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.44%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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).