New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $212.18 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,827,673 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 333,328 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $212,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VZ. Hudock Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 39,842 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 8,571 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 71,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,144,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Camden National Bank increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the second quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 5,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FRG Family Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.8% during the second quarter. FRG Family Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,517 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $628,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.43.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.2%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.42 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.39 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.57. The firm has a market cap of $166.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.