DRW Securities LLC Has $414,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

DRW Securities LLC lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 71.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,228 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 23,111 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

VZ opened at $44.37 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.62. The firm has a market cap of $186.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.46 and a twelve month high of $45.36. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 firm earned $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase 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 6.11%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications 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).