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

Intech Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 286,055 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,238 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Advantage Trust Co grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 222.2% in the 2nd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 725 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.69 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. BNP Paribas lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

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).