Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by M Holdings Securities Inc.

Key Points

• M Holdings Securities Inc. reduced its stake in Verizon by 7.7%, selling 6,532 shares in the first quarter, leaving them with 78,299 shares valued at approximately $3.55 million.
• Verizon reported a Q2 earnings per share of $1.22, exceeding expectations and showing a 5.2% increase in revenue year-over-year, totaling $34.5 billion.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Verizon stock, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.35.

M Holdings Securities Inc. lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 78,299 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after selling 6,532 shares during the period. M Holdings Securities Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $381,000. Meyer Handelman Co. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $50,393,000 after purchasing an additional 76,083 shares during the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,799,000. Rempart Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.8% in the 1st quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,079,000 after acquiring an additional 107,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,137,904 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $51,126,000 after buying an additional 63,474 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $44.24 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $42.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.98. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.1%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eleven equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.35.

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).

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