Cassia Capital Partners LLC Sells 1,183 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cassia Capital Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,466 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,183 shares during the quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2,159.1% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 994 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp cut their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ traded down $0.17 on Monday, reaching $43.82. The stock had a trading volume of 7,681,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,363,563. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.26 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.94 and a 200-day moving average of $41.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $184.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. 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. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.19%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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).