Eads & Heald Wealth Management Sells 372 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Eads & Heald Wealth Management reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,905 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 372 shares during the period. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $43.17 and a 200 day moving average of $41.34. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.31 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.56%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of 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 upped their target price on shares of 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 increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock 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).