Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Stock Holdings Lowered by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,921,797 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,916,250 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.14% of Verizon Communications worth $256,236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Advantage Trust Co boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 222.2% during the second quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 725 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on VZ. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

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).