Center for Financial Planning Inc. Has $419,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Center for Financial Planning Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,688 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 551 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 121.8% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,007,000 after buying an additional 96,931 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,046,000 after buying an additional 336,190 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $309,551,000 after buying an additional 722,559 shares during the period. Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $2,799,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after buying an additional 39,445 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $39.77 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $42.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.84. 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 firm has a market cap of $167.67 billion, a PE ratio of 8.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. BNP Paribas lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

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).