Keating Investment Counselors Inc. Has $6.20 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Keating Investment Counselors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 150,235 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,981 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for 2.0% of Keating Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Keating Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 2,314 shares during the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,678,000 after buying an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Windle Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Windle Wealth LLC now owns 164,242 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,192,000 after buying an additional 1,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $433,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $173.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.93 and a 200-day moving average of $40.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.59%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. 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).