Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,175 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,266 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, September 9th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of VZ opened at $44.33 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.79. The stock has a market cap of $186.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $45.05. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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