Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,253 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 491 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $724,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Leelyn Smith LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 64,836 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,912,000 after buying an additional 1,984 shares in the last quarter. Camden National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $258,000. Stonebrook Private Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 45,120 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,537 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 43,217 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,938,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 87,784 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,942,000 after purchasing an additional 15,009 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.5 %

VZ opened at $43.15 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.55. The firm has a market cap of $181.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

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).