Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Prosperity Consulting Group LLC

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC decreased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 101,463 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,276 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sargent Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 80,178 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,637,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 21,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $920,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 31,513 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monetary Management Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.7%

VZ opened at $39.44 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.22 and its 200-day moving average is $42.79. The company has a market capitalization of $166.31 billion, a PE ratio of 8.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

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).