Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Holdings Lifted by Clearstead Trust LLC

Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,803 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 351 shares during the quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $446,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares during the period. Mosley Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $433,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $961,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 196.3% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 647,218 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $24,400,000 after acquiring an additional 428,776 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $45.00 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $45.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.24 and a 200-day moving average of $40.68. The firm has a market cap of $189.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.03%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.12%.

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).