FSM Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

FSM Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,963 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,224 shares during the period. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 544.2% during the second quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 889 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares during the last quarter. Kepos Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Founders Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 44.2% in the 2nd quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 979 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the 1st quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 957 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. 61.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Samantha Hammock sold 12,557 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total value of $418,022.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on VZ. Citigroup raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 29th. Edward Jones lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. HSBC reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.50 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.40.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $33.54 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $33.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.94. The company has a market cap of $140.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.25 and a 12 month high of $42.58.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $32.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.30 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 15.58%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.73 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 6th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.93%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 52.20%.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).