Jeppson Wealth Management LLC Sells 393 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Jeppson Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,850 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 393 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 1.4% of Jeppson Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.77.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.42 on Friday, reaching $41.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 27,639,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,795,164. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.04.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

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).