Planning Capital Management Corp Has $4.29 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Planning Capital Management Corp lessened its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,506 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,169 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up about 2.8% of Planning Capital Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Planning Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 958,130 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $43,030,000 after purchasing an additional 61,500 shares in the last quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC now owns 37,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,706,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 126.2% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,057,433 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $47,489,000 after acquiring an additional 589,994 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the third quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 114,083 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,118,000 after buying an additional 3,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cable Hill Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 11,495 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 2,411 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.15 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $173.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.81 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on VZ. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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).