Gilbert & Cook Inc. Sells 764 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Gilbert & Cook Inc. reduced its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,193 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 764 shares during the quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its position 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 worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.9 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.93 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $175.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted 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 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.51%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

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).