Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Sells 429 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 71,538 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 429 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $354,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 62,559 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,625,000 after acquiring an additional 2,753 shares during the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 29,130 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 173,742 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,560,000 after acquiring an additional 1,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PYA Waltman Capital LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 22,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $947,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock 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 report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.15 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $177.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.20 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $43.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.43%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

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).