Montag A & Associates Inc. Reduces Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Montag A & Associates Inc. cut its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 65,651 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 8,886 shares during the quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,755,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Portfolio Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 27,457 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the first quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 16,564 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.23.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.1 %

VZ traded down $0.45 during trading on Monday, reaching $40.98. 5,694,276 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,577,287. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.33. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $172.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 99.25%.

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).