Demars Financial Group LLC Has $658,000 Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Demars Financial Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,963 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 788 shares during the period. Demars Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 105,433 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,975,000 after acquiring an additional 3,054 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,745 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $895,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259 shares during the period. Telos Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 262.3% in the fourth quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,500 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $924,000 after acquiring an additional 17,737 shares during the period. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 8,413 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 2,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.61. The stock had a trading volume of 13,377,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,707,240. The firm has a market cap of $170.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.55%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on 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. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.78.

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).