Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Calton & Associates Inc.

Calton & Associates Inc. lessened its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 37.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,523 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 5,663 shares during the quarter. Calton & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management increased its position in Verizon Communications by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 2,314 shares during the period. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,346,000. WealthTrust Axiom LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 118,806 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,422 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 127,632 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.77.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $41.26. The stock had a trading volume of 27,637,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,928,629. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.02. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42. The company has a market capitalization of $173.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

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).