Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV

Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 168,465 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 845 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 1.5% of Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,267,175 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,739,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,963 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,581,848,000 after buying an additional 1,106,887 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,466,446,000 after buying an additional 535,322 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $678,739,000 after buying an additional 104,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,127,360 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $541,372,000 after purchasing an additional 936,823 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.86 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $43.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.34 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications 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).