Soltis Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 197,538 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 43,841 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 0.7% of Soltis Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 925,606 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $40,051,000 after acquiring an additional 102,467 shares during the period. HORAN Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth $3,419,000. Sienna Gestion raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 247,641 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,783,000 after acquiring an additional 23,252 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 1,317,600 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $57,013,000 after acquiring an additional 199,700 shares during the period. Finally, Horan Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 9,656 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $39.72 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $167.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.73. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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).