Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Sold by Carlton Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management LLC

Carlton Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 37,843 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 748 shares during the quarter. Carlton Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 68,641 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,114,000 after purchasing an additional 8,800 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 51,791 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.8% during the 1st quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,311 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 5,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth about $249,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:VZ opened at $38.83 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The firm has a market cap of $163.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company’s 50 day moving average is $42.84 and its 200-day moving average is $42.96.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).