Searle & CO. Cuts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Searle & CO. lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,272 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 4,923 shares during the quarter. Searle & CO.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 25.8% in the first quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC now owns 17,451 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 3,575 shares in the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 43.3% in the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 3,515 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 12,322 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $517,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 41.7% during the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 16,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $684,000 after purchasing an additional 4,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Financial LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the first quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 57,840 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,427,000 after buying an additional 720 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.2 %

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.99. The stock had a trading volume of 5,779,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,474,305. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.75 billion, a PE ratio of 15.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.97 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm 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 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.46%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. 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 note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.31.

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).