Montag A & Associates Inc. Sells 1,562 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Montag A & Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 26,758 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,562 shares during the quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,700,279,000 after purchasing an additional 4,347,416 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,983,225,000 after buying an additional 1,172,175 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,261,648,000 after buying an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,475,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,062,750,000 after acquiring an additional 431,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 8.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 41,993,829 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,904,840,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,342 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.2%

NYSE VZ opened at $40.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $171.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.71 and a 200-day moving average of $42.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

About Verizon Communications

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).