Asset Dedication LLC Sells 1,987 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Asset Dedication LLC lowered its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 76,597 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,987 shares during the quarter. Asset Dedication LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 24,158 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $911,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 89.5% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $864,000 after acquiring an additional 9,818 shares during the last quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 10,077 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 54.4% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,142 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,925 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

VZ opened at $41.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.12%.

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).