Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Has $10.02 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC cut its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 250,631 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,879 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $10,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,095,000 after purchasing an additional 17,855 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $92,445,000 after purchasing an additional 57,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.95. 10,755,232 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,508,787. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.56 and a one year high of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $159.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $41.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.81.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.54.

About Verizon Communications

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).