Cladis Investment Advisory LLC Sells 1,347 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cladis Investment Advisory LLC reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,624 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,347 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for about 1.9% of Cladis Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Coastwise Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC now owns 45,269 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,149 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 209,520 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,407,000 after buying an additional 1,986 shares in the last quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.7% in the third quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP now owns 261,001 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,722,000 after buying an additional 44,703 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 16.2% during the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 152,853 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,865,000 after buying an additional 21,289 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Citigroup increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of VZ opened at $44.34 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $186.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.46 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $42.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.70.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.12%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).