Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of 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. The fund owned 4,466,483 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 119,139 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $200,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2,159.1% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 994 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on 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 price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ traded up $0.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $43.99. 13,058,370 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,416,428. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.26 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $185.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. 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 6.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

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).