Northeast Investment Management Purchases 1,913 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Northeast Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 25,196 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,913 shares during the period. Northeast Investment Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314 shares in the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $3,346,000. WealthTrust Axiom LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 118,806 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,479,000 after buying an additional 2,422 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after buying an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Windle Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Windle Wealth LLC now owns 164,242 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,192,000 after buying an additional 1,270 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1 %

VZ stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.51. The company had a trading volume of 12,729,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,347,732. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42. The business has a 50 day moving average of $40.78 and a 200 day moving average of $40.46. The company has a market cap of $174.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.41%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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).