Mizuho Securities USA LLC Decreases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 272,965 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 51,587 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,263,848 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $56,759,000 after purchasing an additional 40,237 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $12,392,000. Running Point Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $205,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.9% during the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 29,535 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.5% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 7,488,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $336,294,000 after purchasing an additional 458,021 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

VZ opened at $42.22 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $42.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $177.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $36.46 and a one year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on VZ. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

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).