Icon Wealth Advisors LLC Has $140,000 Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Icon Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 95.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,120 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 65,488 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE VZ opened at $43.15 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $42.90 and its 200 day moving average is $41.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.46 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $181.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

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).