Mutual Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mutual Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 144,726 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 8,131 shares during the quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 131,855 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,922,000 after buying an additional 15,989 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 31,581 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,354,000 after acquiring an additional 1,724 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.1% during the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 30,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 1,481 shares during the period. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the third quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 824,662 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,036,000 after acquiring an additional 22,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 278,123 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $12,491,000 after purchasing an additional 4,254 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $41.33 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $173.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.84 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.56%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. 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 company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

About Verizon Communications

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).