Cornerstone Advisory LLC Sells 739 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Cornerstone Advisory LLC lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,283 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 739 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 68,641 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,114,000 after purchasing an additional 8,800 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 8,444 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 796 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 51,791 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,349,000 after buying an additional 1,774 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $229,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 3.4%

VZ stock opened at $38.44 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $42.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.99. The stock has a market cap of $162.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).