Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Wright Investors Service Inc.

Wright Investors Service Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,460 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 15,385 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 157,589 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,077,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 32.7% in the third quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 30,518 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after buying an additional 7,517 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the third quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 24,048 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after buying an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.7% in the third quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 191,537 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,602,000 after buying an additional 3,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 418,526 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $18,796,000 after buying an additional 4,586 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of VZ traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $44.18. The company had a trading volume of 14,537,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,762,088. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.12. The stock has a market cap of $185.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $45.36. 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 released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.14%. 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen raised their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised 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. Finally, 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, September 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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).