Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV Sells 243 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,707 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 243 shares during the period. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $840,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE VZ traded down $0.77 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.36. 16,682,363 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,606,289. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.34. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.31 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $174.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

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).