Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 130,338 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 4,109 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,882,164,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 127.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $821,900,000 after purchasing an additional 12,220,777 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $851,989,000 after purchasing an additional 10,882,873 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $250,312,000. Finally, Third Point LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $173,325,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VZ. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4 %

VZ traded up $0.17 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.95. The stock had a trading volume of 4,094,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,704,227. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The company has a market capitalization of $172.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.49.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.50%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 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).