Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Intrua Financial LLC

Intrua Financial LLC cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 58,846 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,022 shares during the quarter. Intrua Financial LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 59.4% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,488,297 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $158,229,000 after buying an additional 1,299,659 shares during the period. Napatree Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 6,306 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.6% in the first quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 25,862 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the period. Finally, Graypoint LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 13.2% during the first quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 36,880 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,673,000 after purchasing an additional 4,294 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.10 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $41.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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).