Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Sold by Corrado Advisors LLC

Corrado Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,216 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,076 shares during the period. Corrado Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $170.49 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.40 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $43.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.38.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).