Mengis Capital Management Inc. Sells 3,242 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mengis Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 52,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,242 shares during the quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,337,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on VZ shares. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE VZ opened at $40.39 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.41 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $170.03 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.71%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 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).