Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Boston Family Office LLC

Boston Family Office LLC decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,331 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,570 shares during the quarter. Boston Family Office LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Advantage Trust Co increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 549.5% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.05 on Monday. 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 $173.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 58.97%.

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).