Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,195 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 268 shares during the quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.81 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.06. The company has a market cap of $172.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 64.34%.

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).