Cowa LLC Sells 309 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cowa LLC decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,703 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 309 shares during the quarter. Cowa LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on VZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $43.95 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $45.05. The stock has a market cap of $185.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

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).