Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Kanawha Capital Management LLC

Kanawha Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 220,216 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,603 shares during the quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.8 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.36 on Monday. 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 price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.31 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. 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 yield of 6.56%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

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).