Koss Olinger Consulting LLC Sells 1,674 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Koss Olinger Consulting LLC lessened its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,946 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,674 shares during the period. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 121.8% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,007,000 after purchasing an additional 96,931 shares in the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,046,000 after purchasing an additional 336,190 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $309,551,000 after acquiring an additional 722,559 shares in the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,799,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after acquiring an additional 39,445 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. BNP Paribas Exane cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $38.83 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $163.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.37. 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 50-day moving average of $42.84 and a 200-day moving average of $42.97. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.1%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.34%.

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).