Eagle Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 579,406 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 3,024 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $22,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Wealth Advisors of Iowa LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the second quarter. Wealth Advisors of Iowa LLC now owns 23,133 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. McDonald Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.6% during the second quarter. McDonald Partners LLC now owns 55,118 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,797,000 after purchasing an additional 6,617 shares in the last quarter. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.8% during the second quarter. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC now owns 12,494 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.7% during the second quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 197,236 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $10,010,000 after purchasing an additional 12,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adviser Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.9% during the third quarter. Adviser Investments LLC now owns 17,882 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $51.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 24th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.3 %

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $35.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.14 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 24.60% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.7 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 10th were paid a $0.6525 dividend. This represents a $2.61 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 9th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.58%.

Verizon Communications Profile

(Get Rating)

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, offers communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. Its Consumer segment provides postpaid and prepaid service plans; internet access on notebook computers and tablets; wireless equipment, including smartphones and other handsets; and wireless-enabled internet devices, such as tablets, and other wireless-enabled connected devices comprising smart watches.

Further Reading

• Get a free copy of the StockNews.com research report on Verizon Communications (VZ)
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