Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Davis R M Inc.

Davis R M Inc. decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,256 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,722 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.59. 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 market capitalization of $185.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. 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 6.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

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).