Cedrus LLC Has $358,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cedrus LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,171 shares during the quarter. Cedrus LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. New Century Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the third quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 13,627 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.1% in the third quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,140 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.2% in the third quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,638 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 831 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the third quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 39,100 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,756,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.7% in the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 28,578 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased 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. Bank of America increased 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. TD Cowen increased 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, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $43.99 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $42.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.26 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, 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 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.17%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

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).