Curbstone Financial Management Corp Sells 2,472 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Curbstone Financial Management Corp trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,524 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,472 shares during the quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,267,175 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,739,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216,963 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,581,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,887 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,466,446,000 after buying an additional 535,322 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $678,739,000 after buying an additional 104,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,127,360 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $541,372,000 after buying an additional 936,823 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $44.52 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.08. The company has a market capitalization of $187.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 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 business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.09%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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).