Martin & Co. Inc. TN Sells 1,244 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Martin & Co. Inc. TN decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,895 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,244 shares during the period. Martin & Co. Inc. TN’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Avion Wealth grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 208.2% during the 2nd quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 752 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 544.2% during the second quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 889 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares during the last quarter. 61.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Tigress Financial cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $64.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $36.73 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.40. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $42.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.44.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.24%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 6th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.63%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

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).