Charles Schwab Investment Advisory Inc. Acquires New Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Charles Schwab Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,302 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

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

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1 %

Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $42.08. The stock had a trading volume of 15,751,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,624,975. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.10 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.32%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 note on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.23.

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).