WealthTrust Axiom LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

WealthTrust Axiom LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 119,007 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,580 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 1.5% of WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Hudock Inc. raised its holdings 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 last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased 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 in the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its position in 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 worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Camden National Bank raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 5,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monetary Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 30,150 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on VZ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of VZ opened at $40.90 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.45. 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 stock has a market cap of $172.43 billion, a PE ratio of 8.74, a P/E/G 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.82 billion during 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Verizon Communications 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).