Callan Family Office LLC Has $646,000 Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Callan Family Office LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. by 30.2%, now holding 14,231 shares valued at $646,000.
• Verizon recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.22, exceeding expectations and reflecting a 5.2% annual revenue growth.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6775, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 6.2%.

Callan Family Office LLC cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 30.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,231 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 6,145 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $50,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.9% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,187,043 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $280,644,000 after purchasing an additional 291,543 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 40.1% during the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 852,781 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $38,682,000 after purchasing an additional 243,917 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 75.6% during the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 135,515 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $6,147,000 after purchasing an additional 58,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Capital Group boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 43.6% during the first quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 44,089 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $2,000,000 after purchasing an additional 13,392 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ opened at $43.72 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.89. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $184.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.19, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.2%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 63.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.35.

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).

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