Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 170,400 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 10,300 shares during the quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after purchasing an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after buying an additional 17,855 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 102,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,592,000 after buying an additional 2,953 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.9% during the second quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 973,547 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $40,149,000 after acquiring an additional 53,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 164.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 94,339 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,237,000 after acquiring an additional 58,657 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $41.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $176.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.62, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.34 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.48%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

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).