TRUE Private Wealth Advisors Raises Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

TRUE Private Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 57,872 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,235 shares during the period. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Anfield Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 115.4% in the second quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 881 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the second quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 48,344 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,093,000 after buying an additional 1,603 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 10,306 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,644 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 134,957 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,840,000 after acquiring an additional 1,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 37.6% during the 2nd quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,783 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on VZ. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $41.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $41.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a boost 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 6.6%. The ex-dividend date 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).