Powers Advisory Group LLC Has $511,000 Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Powers Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,168 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $41.12. 6,653,911 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,298,411. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.12.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.47%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

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).