Naviter Wealth LLC Has $2.14 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Naviter Wealth LLC trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 47,598 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 313 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 2,159.1% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 994 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ traded down $0.01 during trading on Thursday, reaching $43.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 725,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,394,275. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.99 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $42.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.26.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 101.12%.

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).