Holderness Investments Co. Sells 2,135 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Holderness Investments Co. lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,740 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,135 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises 0.8% of Holderness Investments Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Holderness Investments Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 24,158 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $911,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 89.5% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $864,000 after acquiring an additional 9,818 shares during the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 5,253 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 177.9% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 172,358 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,418,000 after purchasing an additional 110,337 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.33 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $45.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.12%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

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).