Financial Insights Inc. Has $275,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Financial Insights Inc. trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 31.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,133 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,753 shares during the period. Financial Insights Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after buying an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after buying an additional 17,855 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 102,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after buying an additional 2,953 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the second quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 973,547 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $40,149,000 after buying an additional 53,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 164.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 94,339 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,237,000 after purchasing an additional 58,657 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.26 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.01 and a 200-day moving average of $41.28.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.31.

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).