Quotient Wealth Partners LLC Trims Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,019 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,347 shares during the quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Vima LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $1.12 on Thursday, reaching $42.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,322,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,591,883. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.20. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.62 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $180.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.31%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their target price 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. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.26.

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).