Princeton Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Princeton Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,947 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,397 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up 0.8% of Princeton Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Princeton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,581,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,887 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,466,446,000 after buying an additional 535,322 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $678,739,000 after buying an additional 104,447 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,127,360 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $541,372,000 after acquiring an additional 936,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $536,791,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,247 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.29 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $43.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.47. The company has a market cap of $178.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $36.20 and a one year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.41%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. 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).