Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 9,374 shares during the quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in Verizon Communications by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 2,262,463 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $85,295,000 after buying an additional 56,123 shares during the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $251,000. Optimist Retirement Group LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $632,000. Aspect Partners LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $242,000. Finally, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $12,227,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1 %

VZ stock opened at $43.00 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.62 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $181.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.22.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. 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 prior year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.31%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 99.63%.

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).