Custom Index Systems LLC Sells 2,370 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Custom Index Systems LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 30.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,507 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,370 shares during the quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. BKM Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 144,195 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,889,000 after acquiring an additional 23,960 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 67.2% during the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 4,433 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares during the last quarter. Penbrook Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Penbrook Management LLC now owns 30,171 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,266,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 16,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of VZ opened at $41.38 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $43.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.30. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.34 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $174.18 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS 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. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.55%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 101.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

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).