Pzena Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Pzena Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 230,539 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,996 shares during the quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Certified Advisory Corp increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the first quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 23,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank raised its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. First Western Trust Bank now owns 9,527 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. AMI Asset Management Corp raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the first quarter. AMI Asset Management Corp now owns 19,960 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $776,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Harrington Investments INC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 0.7% in the first quarter. Harrington Investments INC now owns 38,995 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Finally, CWS Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the first quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,193 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.40.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $33.45 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.12. The stock has a market cap of $140.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.25 and a 1 year high of $42.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $32.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.30 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 15.58%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 6th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.95%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 52.20%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Samantha Hammock sold 12,557 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total value of $418,022.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).