Everett Harris & Co. CA Sells 6,217 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Everett Harris & Co. CA lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 575,989 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 6,217 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $26,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on VZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $42.94 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.70 and a 200 day moving average of $42.77.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

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).

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