Dunhill Financial LLC Sells 5,520 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Dunhill Financial LLC reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 83.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,089 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,520 shares during the quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $49,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE VZ opened at $42.37 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.81. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $36.46 and a one year high of $45.36. The company 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.40%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).