Everett Harris & Co. CA Cuts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Everett Harris & Co. CA lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 574,581 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,408 shares during the quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $24,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Advantage Trust Co boosted its holdings 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.72 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 58.97%.

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).