Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Reduces Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,821 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 565 shares during the period. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the second quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in 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. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the second quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 21,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $889,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the third quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $43.99 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.26 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $185.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.17%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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).