Quent Capital LLC Sells 603 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Quent Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,274 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 603 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Thematics Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,951,000. Security National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $90,000. Finally, OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 83,379 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on VZ. Bank of America increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on 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 started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank increased 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.18 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.12. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42.

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. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.14%. 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 payout ratio is 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).