JB Capital LLC Has $796,000 Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

JB Capital LLC lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 80.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,292 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 77,521 shares during the period. JB Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $33,000. Vima LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on VZ. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.21. 11,757,332 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,484,035. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.44. 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 firm has a market cap of $173.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm 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%. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. Research 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. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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).