Dean Investment Associates LLC Trims Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Dean Investment Associates LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 190,723 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 9,111 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up about 1.2% of Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Citigroup raised their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.46 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.80.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

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).