Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Has $800,000 Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust cut its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,396 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,124 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 2,314 shares during the period. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares during the period. Windle Wealth LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Windle Wealth LLC now owns 164,242 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $433,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4 %

VZ stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.47. The company had a trading volume of 2,903,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,423,102. The stock has a market cap of $174.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.52. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp lowered 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. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Company 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).