Priebe Wealth Holdings LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Priebe Wealth Holdings LLC cut its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,846 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 525 shares during the quarter. Priebe Wealth Holdings LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after purchasing an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $961,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 2,262,463 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $85,295,000 after purchasing an additional 56,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 919,618 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $38,587,000 after purchasing an additional 21,132 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1 %

VZ opened at $43.00 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.62 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.22. The company has a market cap of $181.01 billion, a PE ratio of 16.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.31%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 99.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.26.

About Verizon Communications

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).