AlphaCore Capital LLC Lowers Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

AlphaCore Capital LLC cut its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,481 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 318 shares during the quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $42.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $179.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $36.46 and a one year high of $45.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.51.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

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).