Jacobs & Co. CA Trims Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Jacobs & Co. CA cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 51.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,613 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 17,576 shares during the quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $746,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors grew its position in Verizon Communications by 127.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $821,900,000 after purchasing an additional 12,220,777 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $851,989,000 after buying an additional 10,882,873 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $250,312,000. Third Point LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $173,325,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 419.8% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,141,257 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $193,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,152,099 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. Citigroup boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $45.04 on Thursday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.06. 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 $189.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.02%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.12%.

Verizon Communications 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).