MAI Capital Management Sells 70,208 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

MAI Capital Management cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 832,676 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 70,208 shares during the quarter. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $37,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Equity Investment Corp boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 4,046,696 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $181,737,000 after acquiring an additional 35,049 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $718,000. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.2% during the third quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 32,240 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,448,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares during the period. Essential Planning LLC. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $203,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 12,493,998 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $561,105,000 after buying an additional 46,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $41.65 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $175.33 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.93 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.45. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 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 posted $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Raymond James raised their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on 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, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

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).