Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stake Reduced by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 237,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $10,644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC now owns 250,483 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $10,510,000 after acquiring an additional 12,651 shares in the last quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.8% during the first quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 21,743 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $912,000 after buying an additional 2,796 shares in the last quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners raised its position in Verizon Communications by 25.0% during the first quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 18,897 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $792,000 after buying an additional 3,779 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 244,071 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $10,241,000 after acquiring an additional 25,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Street Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 14,300 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $41.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $33.34 and a one year high of $45.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.55%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

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).