Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 102,650 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,404 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 2.9% of Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the second quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,240,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the second quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 21,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $889,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.0% in the second quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,383 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the first quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $45.04 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.11 and its 200-day moving average is $41.06.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.02%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.26.

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).