Keynote Financial Services LLC Sells 545 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Keynote Financial Services LLC lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,043 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 545 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 1.1% of Keynote Financial Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Keynote Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 762.6% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,061 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.40 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.69%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

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).