Cetera Investment Advisers Trims Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cetera Investment Advisers cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,883,939 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 94,230 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $77,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp reduced 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.09.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.0 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.91 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $189.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.99.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.04%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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).