Peterson Wealth Services Trims Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Peterson Wealth Services trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,069 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,760 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Services’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4 %

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $41.27. The stock had a trading volume of 17,552,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,519,950. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The firm has a market cap of $173.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a fifty day moving average of $40.27 and a 200 day moving average of $40.15.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.25%.

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).