Nadler Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,551 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Nadler Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,647 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,551 shares during the period. Nadler Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.84. 8,781,124 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,587,100. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month 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 company has a market cap of $171.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.44.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. 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 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

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).