Keating Investment Counselors Inc. Has $6.20 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Keating Investment Counselors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 150,235 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,981 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 2.0% of Keating Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Keating Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Chris Bulman Inc acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $98,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 866.9% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 155,311 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,405,000 after acquiring an additional 139,249 shares during the period. Umpqua Bank grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.8% in the second quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 53,941 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,225,000 after acquiring an additional 2,979 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.2% in the second quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 27,801 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,871 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the second quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 42,583 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,756,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $41.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $173.21 billion, a PE ratio of 15.35, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.59%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

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).