Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Position Decreased by Balboa Wealth Partners

Balboa Wealth Partners reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,272 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 6,464 shares during the quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $250,312,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $216,266,000 after buying an additional 4,711,309 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 112.6% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $273,507,000 after acquiring an additional 3,481,936 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 18.6% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $536,791,000 after buying an additional 2,040,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 37.9% in the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $287,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,951 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of VZ opened at $40.87 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43. 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.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS 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 paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.64%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on VZ shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).