Park Avenue Securities LLC Has $8.88 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Park Avenue Securities LLC reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 215,197 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 8,222 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 42.0% in the second quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 10,503 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 3,108 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 30.1% during the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 70,127 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,892,000 after buying an additional 16,222 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $206,000. Sage Capital Advisors llc lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the second quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 130,575 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,385,000 after buying an additional 1,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 110,976 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,577,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on 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 upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Tigress Financial upped 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. 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 objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven research 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, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.29. 12,173,489 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,956,602. The company has a market cap of $169.59 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.52. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.60%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

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).