Lantz Financial LLC Sells 403 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Lantz Financial LLC lessened its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,796 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 403 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,267,175 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,739,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,963 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $1,882,164,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $851,989,000 after buying an additional 10,882,873 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 127.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $821,900,000 after buying an additional 12,220,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.5% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 10,948,472 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $459,398,000 after acquiring an additional 56,242 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.62 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.00 and a 200-day moving average of $40.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

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).