Chesapeake Wealth Management Decreases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Chesapeake Wealth Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,570 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,444 shares during the period. Chesapeake Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after buying an additional 37,732 shares during the period. Mosley Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $433,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 196.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 647,218 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $24,400,000 after acquiring an additional 428,776 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on VZ. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

VZ stock opened at $44.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $45.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.78. The company has a market capitalization of $186.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

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).