7,861 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Purchased by Cove Private Wealth LLC

Cove Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 7,861 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,566 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares in the last quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd grew its position in Verizon Communications by 50.6% in the 4th quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd now owns 3,424 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 61,643 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,324,000 after acquiring an additional 26,997 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 49,825 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,878,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Slagle Financial LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 82.2% in the 4th quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 20,822 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $785,000 after acquiring an additional 9,392 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $39.46 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.89. The stock has a market cap of $166.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.77.

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).