Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC Has $7.54 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ

St. Denis J. Villere & Company LLC operates as a wealth management firm. The Company offers portfolio management and advisory services to individuals, institutions, trusts, private funds, charitable organizations, and investment companies. St Denis J Villere serves customers in the States of Louisiana and Wisconsin.

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 3.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 198,590 shares of the cell phone carrier‘s stock after selling 7,320 shares during the period. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Advisors of Iowa LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter

Wealth Advisors of Iowa LLC now owns 23,133 shares of the cell phone carrier‘s stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. McDonald Partners LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. McDonald Partners LLC now owns 55,118 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,797,000 after purchasing an additional 6,617 shares during the period.

Hall Private Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hall Private Wealth Advisors now owns 199,247 shares of the cell phone carrier‘s stock valued at $10,112,000 after purchasing an additional 11,838 shares during the period. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC now owns 12,494 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period.

Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 452,869 shares of the cell phone carriers stock valued at $22,983,000 after acquiring an additional 37,327 shares during the period. 60.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Verizon Communications alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 24th.

Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 24th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $54.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 24th.

Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $42.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.11.

Verizon Communications Price Performance Shares of VZ opened at $38.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.55 and a twelve month high of $55.51. The company has a 50 day moving average of $37.64 and a 200-day moving average of $42.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.04.

The company had revenue of $34.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts‘ expectations of $33.79 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 25.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.18 EPS for the current fiscal year. Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6525 dividend.

This represents a $2.61 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 9th. Verizon Communicationss payout ratio is presently 56.62%. About Verizon Communications (Get Rating) Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, offers communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide.

Its Consumer segment provides postpaid and prepaid service plans; internet access on notebook computers and tablets; wireless equipment, including smartphones and other handsets; and wireless-enabled internet devices, such as tablets, and other wireless-enabled connected devices comprising smart watches. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VZ？ Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating). Receive News & Ratings for Verizon Communications Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Verizon Communications and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.