Prio Wealth Limited Partnership Sells 586 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Prio Wealth Limited Partnership decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 586 shares during the period. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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. Bank of America increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $45.04 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $42.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.06. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $189.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

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).