Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Sheets Smith Wealth Management

Sheets Smith Wealth Management decreased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,585 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,097 shares during the quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Scotiabank increased their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.23.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $42.03. 19,474,407 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,642,621. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.38. 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 company has a market capitalization of $176.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.66, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s 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).