Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 5,400 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 42.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,334 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,400 shares during the quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted 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 valued at $3,114,000 after acquiring an additional 8,800 shares in the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $249,000. First Merchants Corp lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 28,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,314,000 after buying an additional 4,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 7,883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.1%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $38.83 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50-day moving average is $42.84 and its 200-day moving average is $42.97. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.34%.

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).