Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 53,004 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,705 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 16,023 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the period. Miramar Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.7% in the third quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 445,625 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $20,013,000 after acquiring an additional 88,395 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.7% in the third quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 9,797 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $440,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.6% in the third quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 112,609 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,057,000 after acquiring an additional 2,852 shares during the period. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 533,375 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $23,954,000 after acquiring an additional 3,747 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note 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 research report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $41.65 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $175.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $35.93 and a one year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Verizon Communications 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).