Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ is Garner Asset Management Corp’s 10th Largest Position

Garner Asset Management Corp lessened its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 87,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 9,253 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises about 1.8% of Garner Asset Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 121.8% during the 1st 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 period. Cadinha & Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $15,046,000 after acquiring an additional 336,190 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 722,559 shares during the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,799,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 23.8% during the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after purchasing an additional 39,445 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $41.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The company had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

About Verizon Communications

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).