Carret Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

by · The Markets Daily

Carret Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 5.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,183 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 6,836 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,030 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 2,228 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 25.7% in the first quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 45,418 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,906,000 after purchasing an additional 9,295 shares during the last quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the first quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 32,237 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the period. Mirador Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the first quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 22,292 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $935,000 after purchasing an additional 1,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.3% in the first quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 37,601 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,578,000 after buying an additional 6,091 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on VZ

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $41.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $174.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $43.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.34 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last released 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 firm 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 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.55%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

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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