Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,792 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 762.6% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 4.2 %

VZ traded down $1.83 on Tuesday, reaching $41.87. 22,205,510 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,436,674. The company’s 50 day moving average is $43.00 and its 200-day moving average is $41.28. The company has a market cap of $176.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.26 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.48%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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).