Invenomic Capital Management LP Lowers Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Invenomic Capital Management LP lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 606,313 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 308,448 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises about 1.5% of Invenomic Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Invenomic Capital Management LP’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $27,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Apella Capital LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 14,192 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $314,000. Cullinan Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 45.9% in the second quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 12,400 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.0% in the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 69,491 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,866,000 after acquiring an additional 5,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.5% during the second quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 72,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,970,000 after purchasing an additional 5,026 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $44.04 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.46 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.70. The company has a market capitalization of $185.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted 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. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.16%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 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).