Ariel Investments LLC Sells 40,537 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Ariel Investments LLC trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,724,311 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 40,537 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $71,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Mosley Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $433,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 196.3% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 647,218 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $24,400,000 after purchasing an additional 428,776 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.16.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $44.55 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $41.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $45.05. The firm has a market cap of $187.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.09%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

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).