Smith Moore & CO. Sells 2,190 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Smith Moore & CO. lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 42,868 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,190 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth 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 period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 86.4% during the 1st quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,285 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $739,000 after buying an additional 7,550 shares during the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 164.3% during the 1st quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 3,964 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $180,000 after buying an additional 2,464 shares during the period. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $231,000. Finally, Solitude Financial Services grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the first quarter. Solitude Financial Services now owns 21,544 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of VZ opened at $40.76 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.42. 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 firm has a market cap of $171.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted 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 $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $0.69 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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).