Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc.

Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,660 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 695 shares during the quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 2.3 %

VZ traded down $1.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $43.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,414,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,587,244. The stock has a market cap of $181.33 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.62 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $42.51 and its 200-day moving average is $41.20.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 6.30%. 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 dividend payout ratio is 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).