SMH Capital Advisors Inc. Sells 626 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

SMH Capital Advisors Inc. lessened its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,817 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 626 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up about 1.5% of SMH Capital Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. SMH Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 127.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $821,900,000 after purchasing an additional 12,220,777 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 92.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $851,989,000 after purchasing an additional 10,882,873 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $250,312,000. Third Point LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $173,325,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in Verizon Communications by 419.8% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,141,257 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $193,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,152,099 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, 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 research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.89 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $184.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $45.05. The business’s 50-day moving average is $41.35 and its 200 day moving average is $40.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.18%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.12%.

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).