Darwin Wealth Management LLC Has $417,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Darwin Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,285 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 291 shares during the quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $41.87 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $42.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.49. The company has a market cap of $176.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.46 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.48%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on VZ. Raymond James raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

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).