Hamel Associates Inc. Decreases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Hamel Associates Inc. decreased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,974 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 9,501 shares during the quarter. Hamel Associates Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $354,000. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,186 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $264,000. D Orazio & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 78.3% during the 1st quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 11,572 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $486,000 after buying an additional 5,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on VZ shares. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on 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 raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.39 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.41 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.03 and a 200 day moving average of $41.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $170.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

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).