Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Maia Wealth LLC

Maia Wealth LLC trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,912 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 667 shares during the period. Maia Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.40 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).