Linscomb Wealth Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Linscomb Wealth Inc. lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 175,754 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,637 shares during the period. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,893,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at about $250,312,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $216,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711,309 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 112.6% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $273,507,000 after buying an additional 3,481,936 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $536,791,000 after buying an additional 2,040,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 37.9% during the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $287,601,000 after buying an additional 1,916,951 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6 %

VZ traded up $0.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.13. 3,374,502 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,514,719. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.93 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.59%. This is a boost 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 presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

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).