Cheviot Value Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cheviot Value Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 72,387 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,642 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 24,158 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 89.5% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $864,000 after purchasing an additional 9,818 shares in the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 29,368 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,107,000 after purchasing an additional 5,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $281,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank raised 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 report on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.91.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.26 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $45.05. The firm has a market cap of $186.30 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.82.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.13%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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).