National Pension Service Decreases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

National Pension Service decreased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,569,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 915,763 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.23% of Verizon Communications worth $414,058,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Advantage Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% in the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $40.72 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.71 and a 200 day moving average of $42.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $171.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.80 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal 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 represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.8%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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).