Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,609,730 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 29,800 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $272,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 105,433 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,975,000 after acquiring an additional 3,054 shares in the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Cambridge Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 43,742 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,649,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 76.4% during the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 14,717 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 6,372 shares during the period. Finally, HTLF Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $779,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.3 %

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Monday, reaching $40.73. The company had a trading volume of 9,397,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,648,658. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.53%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

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).