Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Stock Holdings Lessened by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,868,900 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 836,107 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.09% of Verizon Communications worth $167,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Advantage Trust Co boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.1%

VZ stock opened at $41.22 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $41.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.53. The company has a market capitalization of $173.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.81, 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. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted 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. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. 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. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).