Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Balboa Wealth Partners

Balboa Wealth Partners lessened its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,652 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,920 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $30,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.56 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $170.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.07.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.34%.

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).