Cornerstone Capital Inc. Trims Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cornerstone Capital Inc. lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 305,651 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 14,832 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $13,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 26.3% during the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 13,098 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,730 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 41.0% during the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 122,805 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,515,000 after purchasing an additional 35,726 shares during the period. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, Clarity Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 58,873 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,644,000 after buying an additional 2,022 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $41.23. 2,171,366 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,510,084. The company has a market capitalization of $173.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.40 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 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).