CacheTech Inc. Sells 591 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

CacheTech Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,038 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 591 shares during the period. CacheTech Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 50.4% during 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 during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.36 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.31 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $174.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.34.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.56%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).