Freedom Investment Management Inc. Sells 2,511 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,095 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,511 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.46 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.64.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 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 6.11%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).