Iron Gate Global Advisors LLC Sells 3,806 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Iron Gate Global Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 22.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,210 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,806 shares during the period. Iron Gate Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Tigress Financial lifted their price target 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. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued 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 $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.85 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.46 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $42.91 and a 200 day moving average of $41.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

About Verizon Communications

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).