Choreo LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Choreo LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 58.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 169,193 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 62,368 shares during the period. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 162,184 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,421 shares during the period. Prudential PLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 610,761 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,188,000 after buying an additional 108,220 shares during the period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the second quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,600 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $932,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 24.4% in the second quarter. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,076 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $663,000 after purchasing an additional 3,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,122,819 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $46,305,000 after purchasing an additional 7,951 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective 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. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.11 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $173.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42. 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 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.52.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio 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).