Mathes Company Inc. Has $1.65 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mathes Company Inc. reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 39,950 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Mathes Company Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 24,158 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 89.5% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 9,818 shares during the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 29,368 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,107,000 after buying an additional 5,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 18,304 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $690,000 after buying an additional 4,379 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, September 9th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.89 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.73. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $45.05.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.18%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 101.12%.

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).