Empowered Funds LLC Lowers Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Empowered Funds LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 371,363 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 101,733 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $16,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 144,538 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,491,000 after acquiring an additional 3,182 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.9% during the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 53,234 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,391,000 after purchasing an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. Check Capital Management Inc. CA boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.8% in the third quarter. Check Capital Management Inc. CA now owns 6,470 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 149.3% in the third quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 35,126 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,578,000 after purchasing an additional 21,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 881,348 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $39,578,000 after buying an additional 53,103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.22 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $173.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.93 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.41.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.58%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on VZ. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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).