Prospect Financial Services LLC decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 18.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,227 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 12,603 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises 1.5% of Prospect Financial Services LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Prospect Financial Services LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $11,678,000 after buying an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 919,618 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $38,587,000 after purchasing an additional 21,132 shares during the period. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 164.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 94,339 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,237,000 after purchasing an additional 58,657 shares during the period. Finally, Advocate Group LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.1% in the third quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 242,603 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $10,895,000 after purchasing an additional 11,845 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.
A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America boosted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.26.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Verizon Communications
VZ stock opened at $43.77 on Wednesday. The business's 50-day moving average is $42.73 and its 200 day moving average is $41.25. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.62 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $184.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.20%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 101.12%.
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).
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