Windward Capital Management Co. CA Has $2.59 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Windward Capital Management Co. CA decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,790 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,027 shares during the quarter. Windward Capital Management Co. CA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on VZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on 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 reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $41.15 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.53. The stock has a market cap of $173.21 billion, a PE ratio of 15.35, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.59%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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).