Financial Insights Inc. Has $275,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Financial Insights Inc. decreased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,133 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,753 shares during the quarter. Financial Insights Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after buying an additional 37,732 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after buying an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 102,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the second quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 973,547 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $40,149,000 after purchasing an additional 53,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 164.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 94,339 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,237,000 after purchasing an additional 58,657 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 5.0 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $174.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.26 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.28.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during 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%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.53%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.31.

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).