Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 25.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 554,850 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 188,886 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $22,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. Scotiabank boosted 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. TD Cowen upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $44.33 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.79. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $45.05.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.12%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 101.12%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

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).