Rossby Financial LCC Trims Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Rossby Financial LCC cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,504 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 704 shares during the quarter. Rossby Financial LCC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,700,279,000 after buying an additional 4,347,416 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,983,225,000 after buying an additional 1,172,175 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,261,648,000 after buying an additional 37,516,167 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,475,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,062,750,000 after buying an additional 431,789 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 8.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 41,993,829 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,904,840,000 after buying an additional 3,100,342 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $39.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The firm has a market cap of $165.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.94.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.0%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on VZ. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

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).