Heron Financial Group LLC lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,656 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,230 shares during the quarter. Heron Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the second quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $802,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Ballast Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the second quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 13,299 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Mechanics Bank Trust Department lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the second quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 58,361 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,961,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Wealth Architects LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the second quarter. Wealth Architects LLC now owns 14,547 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the second quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,985 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.96% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 24th. Tigress Financial reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $68.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Friday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $42.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 24th. Oppenheimer upgraded Verizon Communications from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.11.
Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.2 %
Shares of VZ opened at $42.19 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.75. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $34.55 and a one year high of $55.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $38.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.58.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 25.80% and a net margin of 14.22%. The firm had revenue of $34.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Verizon Communications Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6525 per share. This represents a $2.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.62%.
Verizon Communications Profile
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.
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