Palisade Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Palisade Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 87,345 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 675 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $250,312,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $216,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711,309 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 112.6% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $273,507,000 after purchasing an additional 3,481,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.6% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $536,791,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,247 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $43.15 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.46 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $42.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.53. 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 announced 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 for 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%. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. On average, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

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).