Principal Street Partners LLC Sells 35,962 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Principal Street Partners LLC cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 129,023 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 35,962 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goodman Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Goodman Financial Corp now owns 293,977 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $13,203,000 after purchasing an additional 5,563 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.8% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 23,805 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after buying an additional 1,719 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 28.8% during the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 19,962 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 4,466 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,074,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,305,727,000 after acquiring an additional 565,842 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.93 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.59. The company has a market cap of $184.93 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.17%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

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).