Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Associated Banc Corp

Associated Banc Corp decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 143,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 9,881 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VZ. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $43.68. 1,824,262 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,425,119. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.46 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $183.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.56.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 6.21%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).