Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,746 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 7,416 shares during the quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lcnb Corp increased its position in Verizon Communications by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Lcnb Corp now owns 12,503 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1,028.5% in the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,028,345 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $46,646,000 after acquiring an additional 937,220 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $11,882,000. Morton Community Bank increased its position in Verizon Communications by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Morton Community Bank now owns 82,794 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $3,756,000 after acquiring an additional 3,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 907,796 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $41,178,000 after acquiring an additional 231,056 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.
Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4%
Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.12 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $42.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.80. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.05, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.
Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 63.17%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.35.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications Profile
(
Free Report)
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).
See Also

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Verizon Communications, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Verizon Communications wasn't on the list.
While Verizon Communications currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Learn the basics of options trading and how to use them to boost returns and manage risk with this free report from MarketBeat. Click the link below to get your free copy.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.