Cheviot Value Management LLC Sells 8,725 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cheviot Value Management LLC trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,662 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 8,725 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.34 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $42.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.70. 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 twelve month low of $36.46 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $186.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 paid a $0.678 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a 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 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).