Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Linscomb Wealth Inc.

Linscomb Wealth Inc. trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 186,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 2,211 shares during the quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the first quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 80,178 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,637,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the second quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 21,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $920,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the first quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 31,513 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monetary Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the first quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 30,150 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $38.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $42.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.87. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35. The stock has a market cap of $164.27 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS 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 given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.1%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.41.

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).