Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Holdings Trimmed by King Wealth Management Group

King Wealth Management Group lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,401 shares during the period. King Wealth Management Group’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.87 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $43.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.84 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change 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 6.64%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).