CRA Financial Services LLC Has $375,000 Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

CRA Financial Services LLC decreased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,938 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 550 shares during the quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.42 on Friday, reaching $41.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 27,639,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,795,164. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $173.59 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.04.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.77.

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).