Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

by · The Markets Daily

Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 29.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,254 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 6,373 shares during the period. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $25,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.43 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.84 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $174.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.30.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 dividend yield of 6.55%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

View Our Latest Analysis on VZ

About Verizon Communications

(Free Report)

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).

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