Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,945,286 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 82,523 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $80,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 104.8% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 1,724,550 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $71,120,000 after acquiring an additional 882,308 shares in the last quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 61,750 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,547,000 after purchasing an additional 1,438 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 832,801 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $34,345,000 after purchasing an additional 38,449 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 60.9% during the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,272 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,197,000 after purchasing an additional 20,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Promethos Capital LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $4,279,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $45.05. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.78. The company has a market capitalization of $186.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.54, a PEG 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 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business 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 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.12%.

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).