Amalgamated Bank Sells 3,092 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Amalgamated Bank lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 847,463 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,092 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $38,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $354,000. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,252,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 14.7% in the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,387 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 1,077 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 281.6% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 40,995 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,720,000 after buying an additional 30,253 shares during the period. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 45.6% during the first quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 8,586 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 2,688 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $41.06 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.36. 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 1 year low of $35.40 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.85 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.60%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

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).