1832 Asset Management L.P. Sells 62,649 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

1832 Asset Management L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 41.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,674 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 62,649 shares during the quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $25,000. Advantage Trust Co lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 222.2% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $175.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.91, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.33. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.73 and its 200 day moving average is $42.36. 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 0.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.97%.

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).