Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by RPG Investment Advisory LLC

RPG Investment Advisory LLC lessened its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 50.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 132,790 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 133,970 shares during the quarter. RPG Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hudock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the second quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 39,842 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 80,178 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,637,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 21,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $920,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Camden National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the second quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 5,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monetary Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the first quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 30,150 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.29 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $169.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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).