Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC

Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 28.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,068 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,061 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Burney Co. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.9% during the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 63,862 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,680,000 after buying an additional 3,008 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 88.5% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 81,441 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,417,000 after buying an additional 38,237 shares in the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the first quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 668,900 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $28,067,000 after buying an additional 46,000 shares in the last quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $7,227,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 71.1% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,560 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 5,634 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.0 %

VZ stock opened at $44.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.46 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.66. The firm has a market cap of $186.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its 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 net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.11%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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).