ING Groep NV Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

ING Groep NV lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 824,087 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 65,940 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $37,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $354,000. Delta Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 119,876 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,030,000 after purchasing an additional 12,615 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 383,641 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,098,000 after purchasing an additional 45,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trillium Asset Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 0.5% in the first quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 417,242 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $17,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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. Citigroup lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group increased their price target 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. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.0 %

VZ traded down $0.02 on Thursday, reaching $41.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,009,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,539,664. The company has a market capitalization of $173.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.84 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. 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 50 day moving average of $43.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.60%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 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).