Klingman & Associates LLC Has $320,000 Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Klingman & Associates LLC cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,121 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 381 shares during the period. Klingman & Associates LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $40.50 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.40 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $170.49 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Company 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).