Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 349,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 49,396 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $15,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,678,000 after purchasing an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $961,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 5.9% during the second quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 973,547 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $40,149,000 after acquiring an additional 53,929 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 164.4% during the third quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 94,339 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,237,000 after acquiring an additional 58,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advocate Group LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 5.1% during the third quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 242,603 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $10,895,000 after acquiring an additional 11,845 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.99. The stock had a trading volume of 13,058,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,416,428. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $42.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.29. The stock has a market cap of $185.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.26 and a 1-year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.17%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

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).