Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,825,186 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 67,234 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $198,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 8,974 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472 shares during the last quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.8% in the 2nd quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC now owns 119,086 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,911,000 after purchasing an additional 44,118 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 44,766 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,846,000 after purchasing an additional 818 shares in the last quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 54.4% during the second quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 26,265 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after buying an additional 9,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, F M Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $4,649,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Tigress Financial raised their target price 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 upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.3 %

VZ traded up $0.54 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.79. 20,006,979 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,351,631. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $175.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.47. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released 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. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.37%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Verizon Communications 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).