WealthBridge Capital Management LLC Sells 278 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

WealthBridge Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,217 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 278 shares during the quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the second quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,240,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the second quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 21,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $889,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.0% during the second quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,383 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC grew 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 during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $43.87 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $184.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.62 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.18%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.26.

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).