Planned Solutions Inc. Has $320,000 Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Planned Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,606 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,176 shares during the period. Planned Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 11.0% during the second quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 88,670 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,298,000 after acquiring an additional 8,755 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $334,000. Keystone Financial Planning Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Keystone Financial Planning Inc. now owns 236,254 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,786,000 after acquiring an additional 6,201 shares during the last quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.6% in the second quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,575 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after buying an additional 3,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.9% in the second quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,012 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $14,988,000 after buying an additional 7,577 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Samantha Hammock sold 12,557 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total value of $418,022.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.8 %

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

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $32.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.30 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 15.58%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Finally, HSBC cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.50 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, June 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.40.

About Verizon Communications

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).