Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Wiser Advisor Group LLC

Wiser Advisor Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 24.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,664 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,822 shares during the period. Wiser Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $210,000. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 83,956 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,770,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.3% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 72,342 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,249,000 after acquiring an additional 9,025 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 46,871 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 6,355 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of VZ traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $43.67. The company had a trading volume of 1,513,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,430,158. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.46 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 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. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.56.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.21%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Citigroup increased their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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).