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

Perkins Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZFree Report) by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,808 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the period. Perkins Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

VZ opened at $41.17 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.40 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.15 and a 200 day moving average of $41.37. The firm has a market cap of $173.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Get Our Latest Report on Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Company Profile

(Free Report)

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).

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ)

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