Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 11,037 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 85,373 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 11,037 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the period. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 17,850 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 2,808 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 345,952 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $13,042,000 after purchasing an additional 10,672 shares during the period. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE VZ opened at $45.21 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $190.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $42.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.03.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.00%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.26.

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).