KCM Investment Advisors LLC Sells 10,068 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 301,339 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 10,068 shares during the quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $13,533,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its holdings 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. 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.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE VZ traded up $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $40.97. 3,022,896 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,513,135. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.93 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $172.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.62%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 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).