Center for Financial Planning Inc. Sells 551 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Center for Financial Planning Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,688 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 551 shares during the quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Advantage Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on VZ shares. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of VZ opened at $39.77 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.84. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The stock has a market cap of $167.67 billion, a PE ratio of 8.50, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 58.97%.

About Verizon Communications

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).