Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Hamel Associates Inc.

Hamel Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 43,974 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 9,501 shares during the period. Hamel Associates Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VZ. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.39 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.41 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $170.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50-day moving average is $43.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.41. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.71%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

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).