Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Purchases 3,792 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 29,857 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 3,792 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,678,000 after buying an additional 37,732 shares during the period. Mosley Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $433,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $961,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 196.3% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 647,218 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $24,400,000 after acquiring an additional 428,776 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, September 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $44.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $186.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $41.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.78. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $45.05.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.12%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

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).