GM Advisory Group LLC Trims Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

GM Advisory Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 46.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,459 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 11,766 shares during the quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,581,848,000 after buying an additional 1,106,887 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,466,446,000 after purchasing an additional 535,322 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 18,161,563 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $815,636,000 after purchasing an additional 502,949 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $678,739,000 after purchasing an additional 104,447 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective 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. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.15. The stock had a trading volume of 17,017,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,570,672. The business's 50 day moving average is $42.90 and its 200-day moving average is $41.55. The company has a market cap of $181.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).