Radnor Capital Management LLC Has $2.36 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Radnor Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 28.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 63,384 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 24,861 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up about 1.0% of Radnor Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Radnor Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Verizon Communications by 544.2% in the second quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 889 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 751 shares in the last quarter. Kepos Capital LP bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Steward Financial Group LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 92.9% in the first quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 957 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. 61.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.40.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.7 %

VZ opened at $33.79 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.73. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.25 and a twelve month high of $42.58. The firm has a market cap of $142.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.76, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.58% and a return on equity of 22.28%. The firm had revenue of $32.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 6th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.87%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Samantha Hammock sold 12,557 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total transaction of $418,022.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).