FLC Capital Advisors Has $941,000 Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

FLC Capital Advisors cut its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,953 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 974 shares during the quarter. FLC Capital Advisors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 2,159.1% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 994 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on VZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Eight 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.90 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.99 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $184.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 101.12%.

Verizon Communications 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).