Armor Investment Advisors LLC Sells 41,384 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Armor Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 82.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,790 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 41,384 shares during the quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,240,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $41.17. 21,950,454 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,574,658. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.40 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The stock's fifty day moving average is $43.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.37. The company has a market cap of $173.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43. 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 (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.59%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup upped their target price 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. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.37.

About Verizon Communications

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).