Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Sax Wealth Advisors LLC

Sax Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 26,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 812 shares during the quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $2,015,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 307,514 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $12,682,000 after buying an additional 29,082 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 36,830 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,519,000 after acquiring an additional 3,731 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 152,304 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,281,000 after acquiring an additional 24,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.1% in the second quarter. Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC now owns 90,644 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,738,000 after acquiring an additional 5,235 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VZ. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.4 %

VZ stock opened at $38.86 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The business’s 50-day moving average is $41.06 and its 200 day moving average is $41.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $163.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.46.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.97%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).