Delta Asset Management LLC TN Sells 6,223 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Delta Asset Management LLC TN lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 118,193 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 6,223 shares during the period. Delta Asset Management LLC TN’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Gateway Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth $278,000. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.2% during the second quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 4,939,181 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $184,755,000 after purchasing an additional 199,944 shares in the last quarter. SBB Research Group LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $442,000. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 41,305 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,536,000 after purchasing an additional 6,801 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Partners Group LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC now owns 62,740 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,333,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Barclays raised Verizon Communications from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Tigress Financial reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $64.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of VZ traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $36.52. The stock had a trading volume of 4,274,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,046,807. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $42.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $33.49 and its 200 day moving average is $34.45. The firm 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.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th were paid a $0.665 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 6th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.28%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).