Bard Financial Services Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bard Financial Services Inc. lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 268,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 10,850 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises about 1.4% of Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.9% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 12,244 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 1,680 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 173.9% in the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 254,487 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,429,000 after buying an additional 161,559 shares during the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 11.5% in the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 175,460 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,880,000 after buying an additional 18,140 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 258,954 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,630,000 after buying an additional 3,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 15.1% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 10,868 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 1,428 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on VZ. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.46.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2 %

VZ stock opened at $42.22 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.46 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company’s 50 day moving average is $42.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.83. The stock has a market cap of $177.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.42%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).