MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC Sells 1,240 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,076 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,240 shares during the quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,700,279,000 after buying an additional 4,347,416 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,983,225,000 after buying an additional 1,172,175 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 303.9% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,261,648,000 after buying an additional 37,516,167 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,475,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,062,750,000 after buying an additional 431,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 8.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 41,993,829 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,904,840,000 after buying an additional 3,100,342 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $40.20 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $42.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.48 billion, a PE ratio of 9.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 64.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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).