KCM Investment Advisors LLC Sells 2,286 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

KCM Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 281,011 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,286 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marco Investment Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 83,540 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,615,000 after buying an additional 4,259 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 119,066 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,548 shares in the last quarter. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the second quarter. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP now owns 21,395 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 952 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.5% during the second quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 601,564 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,030,000 after acquiring an additional 41,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $489,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.5%

VZ opened at $40.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $41.86 and its 200 day moving average is $42.69. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.55, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a $0.69 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.41.

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).