Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC

Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 48.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,966 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 6,560 shares during the quarter. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $287,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in 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 worth $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares in the last quarter. Mosley Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $433,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $961,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 196.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 428,776 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $44.33 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $45.05. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.78. The company has a market cap of $186.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. 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. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.12%.

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).