Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Position Lowered by Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc.

Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 30,589 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,945 shares during the quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $354,000. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 19.3% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 7,422 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 31,217 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 38,585 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,562,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $35.31 and a one year high of $45.36. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.35. The stock has a market cap of $174.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).