Santori & Peters Inc. Sells 302 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Santori & Peters Inc. cut its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,029 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 302 shares during the period. Santori & Peters Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $212,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $12,713,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $631,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 63.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 656,290 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $21,269,000 after buying an additional 254,235 shares during the period. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 89.4% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 119,554 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,875,000 after buying an additional 56,427 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.0 %

VZ stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.11. 6,653,911 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,843,182. The company has a market cap of $173.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.11. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.47%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.14.

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).