Rakuten Securities Inc. Trims Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Rakuten Securities Inc. lessened its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 55.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,343 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,340 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.44 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.41 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.41. The company has a market cap of $170.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.71%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Company 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).