Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by First National Corp MA ADV

First National Corp MA ADV lowered its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 20.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,563 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,248 shares during the period. First National Corp MA ADV’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 2,115 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 6,248 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares during the period. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 164.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 94,339 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,237,000 after purchasing an additional 58,657 shares during the period. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 24,819 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Capital Advisors llc increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 132,201 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,937,000 after acquiring an additional 1,626 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $43.92. 1,737,765 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,604,152. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.18. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.62 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $184.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Eight research 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.26.

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).