Wallace Advisory Group LLC Purchases 2,264 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wallace Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,332 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,264 shares during the period. Wallace Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 24,158 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $201,000. Evoke Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 26,331 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $993,000 after purchasing an additional 1,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 548,527 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $20,679,000 after buying an additional 13,243 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE VZ opened at $44.89 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $45.05. The stock has a market cap of $188.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.95.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.04%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp lowered 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 note on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.09.

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).