Moors & Cabot Inc. Sells 11,534 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Moors & Cabot Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 183,327 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 11,534 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $45.00 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $45.05. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $41.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.68. The stock has a market cap of $189.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.66.

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).