Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC Sells 1,090 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC lowered its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,896 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,090 shares during the quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 121.8% during the first quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,007,000 after purchasing an additional 96,931 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% during the second quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,046,000 after purchasing an additional 336,190 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 11.0% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $309,551,000 after purchasing an additional 722,559 shares during the period. Element Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $2,799,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 23.8% during the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,888,000 after purchasing an additional 39,445 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $38.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $42.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.2%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

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).