Simplicity Wealth LLC Has $2.94 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Simplicity Wealth LLC cut its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,847 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 28,784 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Hudock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the second quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 39,842 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 8,571 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Red Spruce Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the third quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 71,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,144,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Camden National Bank boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the second quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 5,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Lazari Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the second quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 67,101 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,903,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.25.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4%

VZ opened at $39.24 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.67. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.39 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The stock has a market cap of $165.47 billion, a PE ratio of 8.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.97%.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.