AlphaMark Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

AlphaMark Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,873 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 3,963 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises 0.8% of AlphaMark Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. AlphaMark Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during 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. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the first 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. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 919,618 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,587,000 after purchasing an additional 21,132 shares during the period. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 164.4% during 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 buying an additional 58,657 shares during the period. Finally, Advocate Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.1% in the third quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 242,603 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $10,895,000 after buying an additional 11,845 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

VZ stock opened at $43.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $184.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $42.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.28. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.99 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.18%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their target price 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. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.26.

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).