Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC Sells 11,752 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 50.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,490 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 11,752 shares during the period. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.1 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.38 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $174.18 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.34 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.55%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Raymond James raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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).