Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stake Trimmed by Foster & Motley Inc.

Foster & Motley Inc. cut its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 112,630 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 7,965 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314 shares in the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares in the last quarter. Windle Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Windle Wealth LLC now owns 164,242 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $433,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $41.08. 5,098,723 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,378,766. The company has a market cap of $172.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.52.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on VZ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Company 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).