Nexus Investment Management ULC Cuts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Nexus Investment Management ULC lowered its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,900 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 8,000 shares during the quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $136,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,479,487 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $281,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251,947 shares in the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $112,000. First Hawaiian Bank raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.4% in the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 24,005 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 4,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.7% in the first quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 33,084 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.77 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.62 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.25. The company has a market capitalization of $184.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.33, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.20%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.26.

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).