Gables Capital Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Gables Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,658 shares during the quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Advantage Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.29 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The company’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 64.34%.

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).