Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Holdings Cut by Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC

Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 145,649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,808 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises 3.3% of Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% during the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after purchasing an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 102,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meyer Handelman Co. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the second quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 973,547 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $40,149,000 after purchasing an additional 53,929 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $43.69. 8,724,855 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,368,703. The stock has a market cap of $183.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.37, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.27. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.26 and a 1 year 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 earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.21%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.12%.

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).