Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC Has $2.19 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,200 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 4,480 shares during the period. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.5% in the first quarter. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL now owns 1,996,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $101,717,000 after acquiring an additional 9,200 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 860.0% in the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 336,892 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $17,161,000 after acquiring an additional 301,800 shares during the last quarter. WC Walker & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.7% in the first quarter. WC Walker & Associates Inc. now owns 41,306 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096 shares during the last quarter. Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the first quarter. Wilson & Boucher Capital Management LLC now owns 17,693 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $901,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CRA Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.1% in the first quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 16,518 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $841,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.83% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.0 %

VZ opened at $39.52 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.11 and a 12 month high of $55.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

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Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.03). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 26.95%. The company had revenue of $33.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 7th will be paid a $0.6525 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.61 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 6th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 51.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 1,558 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.42, for a total value of $80,112.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,717,582.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $59.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $58.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $57.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 25th. Bank of America cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 28th. Finally, Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $71.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.61.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

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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.