Financial Advocates Investment Management Sells 15,204 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Financial Advocates Investment Management decreased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 35.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,267 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 15,204 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Two equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.0%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.60 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.47. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $171.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 58.97%.

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).