Patten & Patten Inc. TN Has $2.11 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 46,865 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,624 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,105,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $354,000. Choate Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the first quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 26,998 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 140.5% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,614 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 19,051 shares in the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.9% during the first quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 34,052 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the period. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 161.4% in the 1st quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 25,220 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 15,573 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $40.48 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $170.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.40 and a 52-week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price 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. Citigroup raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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).