Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC Sells 2,847 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 30.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,565 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,847 shares during the quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,115,932,000 after acquiring an additional 78,995,341 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,829,675,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 255.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 48,058,216 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,893,493,000 after buying an additional 34,553,565 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 85,876,978 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,358,991,000 after acquiring an additional 12,189,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,976,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,678,273,000 after acquiring an additional 11,987,691 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $33.54 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.25 and a 52-week high of $42.58. The stock has a market cap of $140.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.71, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.70 and its 200-day moving average is $35.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 15.58%. The company had revenue of $32.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.73 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 6th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.93%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on VZ. HSBC decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.50 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, June 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. Citigroup upgraded Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. Edward Jones lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.40.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Samantha Hammock sold 12,557 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction on Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total transaction of $418,022.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).