Beaton Management Co. Inc. Sells 508 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Beaton Management Co. Inc. lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 34,965 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 508 shares during the quarter. Beaton Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after buying an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Mosley Wealth Management bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $433,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $961,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 196.3% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 647,218 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $24,400,000 after purchasing an additional 428,776 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.95 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $45.05. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.75. The company has a market capitalization of $185.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.17%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.66.

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).