Cornerstone Capital Inc. Trims Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cornerstone Capital Inc. trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 305,651 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 14,832 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $13,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the second quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,240,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.17 on Tuesday, hitting $41.23. The company had a trading volume of 2,171,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,510,084. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.40 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.36.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.58%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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).