Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Sells 11,505 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 387,063 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 11,505 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $17,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of VZ. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 958,130 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $43,030,000 after purchasing an additional 61,500 shares during the last quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC now owns 37,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,706,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 126.2% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,057,433 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $47,489,000 after buying an additional 589,994 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 114,083 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,118,000 after buying an additional 3,673 shares during the period. Finally, Cable Hill Partners LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 11,495 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 2,411 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $41.10. The stock had a trading volume of 669,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,524,555. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.84 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $173.02 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current 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 $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.60%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

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).