FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 1,822 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,527 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,822 shares during the quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on VZ. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. 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 note on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1 %

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $41.15. 6,379,319 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,745,809. 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 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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).