Cypress Capital Group Decreases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cypress Capital Group reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,964 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,103 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,050,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Vima LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $41.21. The company had a trading volume of 11,757,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,484,035. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.43. The company has a market capitalization of $173.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

About Verizon Communications

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).