Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Reduces Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado reduced its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 582,796 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 16,405 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $24,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of 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 started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $44.33 on Friday. The stock 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 Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $45.05. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.78. 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 released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

About Verizon Communications

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).