Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,272,580 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 186,010 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $400,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the third quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.14 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.87. The firm has a market cap of $177.98 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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 note on Monday, September 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.46.

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).