Kingsview Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Kingsview Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,896 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 6,184 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $250,312,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in 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 period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted 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 valued at $273,507,000 after purchasing an additional 3,481,936 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $536,791,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,247 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $181.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.55. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.46 and a twelve month high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

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).