Purus Wealth Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Purus Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,278 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 410 shares during the period. Purus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at $348,000. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 12.9% during the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 26,212 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 2,997 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 41,924 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 33.7% during the second quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 212,066 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,746,000 after purchasing an additional 53,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connors Investor Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.7% during the second quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 288,634 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,903,000 after purchasing an additional 4,922 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on VZ. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.10 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $45.05. The stock has a market cap of $185.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.45, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.15%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.12%.

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).