Spire Wealth Management Lowers Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Spire Wealth Management lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 27.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 37,657 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 14,134 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 262,751 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,369,000 after purchasing an additional 25,308 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 192,479 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,329,000 after buying an additional 23,292 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 50.8% during the 2nd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 360,182 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,585,000 after buying an additional 121,282 shares in the last quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 8,043 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Econ Financial Services Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 44,282 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,916,000 after buying an additional 16,209 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $167.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.84. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.41.

About Verizon Communications

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).