Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Aprio Wealth Management LLC

Aprio Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 21.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,093 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,112 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $14,739,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216,963 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,581,848,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106,887 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,466,446,000 after acquiring an additional 535,322 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $678,739,000 after acquiring an additional 104,447 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,127,360 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $541,372,000 after acquiring an additional 936,823 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $43.87 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.37, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.13. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.62 and a twelve 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 net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.26.

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).