Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 26.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 198,727 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 72,359 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $42.28 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.14 and a 52-week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.41%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. Raymond James increased their price objective 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. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.46.

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).