Lake Street Private Wealth LLC Sells 444 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Lake Street Private Wealth LLC lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,845 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 444 shares during the period. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ traded up $0.38 on Wednesday, reaching $41.88. 5,280,290 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,471,867. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $32.97 and a one year high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.28 billion, a PE ratio of 15.63, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a positive change 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 6.48%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Profile

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).