Strategic Blueprint LLC Sells 3,619 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Strategic Blueprint LLC reduced its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,749 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,619 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,678,000 after buying an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 102,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,592,000 after acquiring an additional 2,953 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.9% during the second quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 973,547 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $40,149,000 after purchasing an additional 53,929 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 164.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 94,339 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,237,000 after purchasing an additional 58,657 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.7 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.13 and a 200-day moving average of $41.32. The company has a market cap of $173.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $33.84 and a one year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.56%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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).