Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Position Trimmed by Wealth Architects LLC

by · The Markets Daily

Wealth Architects LLC lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,080 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 585 shares during the period. Wealth Architects LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $543,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $354,000. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $200,000. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 21,700 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 39.7% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 3,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CFO4Life Group LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the first quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 9,455 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Read Our Latest Report on Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $41.17 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $173.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.75, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.40 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.59%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

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).

See Also

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