Aldebaran Financial Inc. Lowers Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Aldebaran Financial Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,444 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,150 shares during the period. Aldebaran Financial Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Mosley Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $433,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $961,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 196.3% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 647,218 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $24,400,000 after purchasing an additional 428,776 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.0 %

VZ opened at $44.91 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $41.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.99.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price 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. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.09.

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).