Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Sells 46,973 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 36.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 83,365 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 46,973 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,744,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its holdings 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 valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $43.15 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $42.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.55. The stock has a market cap of $181.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.46 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect 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 $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.29%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America raised 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. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average 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).