Sentry Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,562 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 795 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 68,641 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,114,000 after purchasing an additional 8,800 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $1,000,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, TT Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 57.6% in the 1st quarter. TT Capital Management LLC now owns 45,999 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,087,000 after buying an additional 16,818 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of VZ opened at $40.56 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The company has a market capitalization of $170.99 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.63.

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).