Bessemer Securities LLC Trims Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bessemer Securities LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,990 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Bessemer Securities LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $25,000. Avion Wealth boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 208.2% in the 2nd quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 752 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 544.2% during the 2nd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 889 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Tigress Financial decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $64.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. Citigroup raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. Barclays raised Verizon Communications from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $36.52. 2,710,038 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,039,061. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $153.53 billion, a PE ratio of 7.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $33.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.45. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $42.58.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 21.26% and a net margin of 15.58%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 10th were given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 6th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 53.63%.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).