Nvwm LLC Lowers Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Nvwm LLC lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,081 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 362 shares during the quarter. Nvwm LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $25,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 762.6% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $41.36 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $174.11 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.31 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. 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 6.56%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. 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. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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).