Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,927 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,988 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,927 shares during the quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th 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. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.2% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 338,799 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,504,000 after purchasing an additional 13,747 shares during the last quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.0% in the first quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 6,462 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.7% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,452,774 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $65,898,000 after buying an additional 10,099 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Bank of America upped 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. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $40.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $168.80 billion, a PE ratio of 8.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.74. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.69.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict 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 was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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).