Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Cuts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,585,622 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 31,969 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $189,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $1,882,164,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 127.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $821,900,000 after buying an additional 12,220,777 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $851,989,000 after buying an additional 10,882,873 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $250,312,000. Finally, Third Point LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $173,325,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $41.78 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.37%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Company 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).