Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 579 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,385 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 579 shares during the quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $332,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% in the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its stake 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 worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased 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 period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.52 on Monday, reaching $43.67. The stock had a trading volume of 1,513,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,430,158. 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 company has a market capitalization of $183.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.46 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.56.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.21%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on VZ. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

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).