Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 107,719,685 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,146,720 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 0.8% of Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,660,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Soundwatch Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $1,213,000. Enterprise Financial Services Corp raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 18,322 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $793,000 after acquiring an additional 2,963 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,783,199 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $553,129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,045 shares during the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.6% in the second quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,047,844 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $45,340,000 after purchasing an additional 83,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RD Lewis Holdings Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 336.5% in the second quarter. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. now owns 40,268 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,730,000 after purchasing an additional 31,043 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on VZ. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” 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 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $41.27 and its 200 day moving average is $42.53.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 58.97%.

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).