Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Martingale Asset Management L P

Martingale Asset Management L P trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 894,631 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 142,179 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises about 0.9% of Martingale Asset Management L P’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $40,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Burney Co. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.9% in the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 63,862 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,680,000 after acquiring an additional 3,008 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 88.5% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 81,441 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,417,000 after acquiring an additional 38,237 shares during the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the first quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 668,900 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $28,067,000 after acquiring an additional 46,000 shares during the last quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $7,227,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 71.1% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,560 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 5,634 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.38 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.46 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $186.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.11%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Verizon Communications 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).