Detalus Advisors LLC Sells 10,187 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Detalus Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 41.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 14,622 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 10,187 shares during the period. Detalus Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $250,312,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 112.6% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $273,507,000 after acquiring an additional 3,481,936 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Verizon Communications by 18.6% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $536,791,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,247 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 37.9% in the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $287,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Verizon Communications by 153.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,806,221 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $115,729,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700,619 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE VZ traded up $0.45 on Wednesday, hitting $41.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,611,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,478,361. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.97 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $176.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.28.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.46%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.31.

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).