Crew Capital Management Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Crew Capital Management Ltd. cut its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 25.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,667 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,622 shares during the period. Crew Capital Management Ltd.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Cooper Financial Group lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.9% in the first quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 12,057 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $113,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.0% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 57,087 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,395,000 after buying an additional 2,220 shares during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2,159.1% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 994 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $961,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of VZ stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $43.88. 5,765,350 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,354,123. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.26 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.70 billion, a PE ratio of 16.37, a PEG ratio of 4.02 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $42.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.27.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research 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 issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.18%. Verizon Communications’s dividend 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).