Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,161,001 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 38,052 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.12% of Verizon Communications worth $223,317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 121.8% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,007,000 after purchasing an additional 96,931 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% in the second quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,046,000 after buying an additional 336,190 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.0% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $309,551,000 after buying an additional 722,559 shares in the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth about $2,799,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,888,000 after acquiring an additional 39,445 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Weiss Ratings lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $41.05 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.97%.

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).