Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 876,927 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 25,225 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for 0.5% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $37,945,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Advantage Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% in the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. BNP Paribas Exane cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. 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 report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $40.03 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $41.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.80 billion, a PE ratio of 8.55, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results 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. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.97%.

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).