Auto Owners Insurance Co Has $434,000 Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Auto Owners Insurance Co cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 79.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,033 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 37,967 shares during the quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 121.8% in the first quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,007,000 after acquiring an additional 96,931 shares during the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% in the second quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,046,000 after acquiring an additional 336,190 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.0% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $309,551,000 after acquiring an additional 722,559 shares during the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at about $2,799,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 23.8% in the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after acquiring an additional 39,445 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:VZ opened at $39.38 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.92.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.0%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

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).