IAG Wealth Partners LLC Sells 762 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

IAG Wealth Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 44.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 938 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 762 shares during the quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $35,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gateway Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth $278,000. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its position in Verizon Communications by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 4,939,181 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $184,755,000 after buying an additional 199,944 shares during the last quarter. SBB Research Group LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $442,000. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 19.7% in the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 41,305 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,536,000 after purchasing an additional 6,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Partners Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC now owns 62,740 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,333,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. 61.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $36.73 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $42.58. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 21.26% and a net margin of 15.58%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.32 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th were issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 6th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Tigress Financial lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $64.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Citigroup raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $39.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).