Eads & Heald Wealth Management Reduces Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Eads & Heald Wealth Management decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,905 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 372 shares during the period. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 11,865 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 95,307 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,280,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 41.2% during the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 87,567 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,933,000 after purchasing an additional 25,536 shares in the last quarter. Sitrin Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth $227,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.7% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 38,365 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.36 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.31 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.11 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

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).