Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC

Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,047 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 407 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after purchasing an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Windle Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Windle Wealth LLC now owns 164,242 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares during the period. Mosley Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $433,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on VZ. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $44.43 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $44.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $187.03 billion, a PE ratio of 16.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.10%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. 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).