Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Purchased by FLC Capital Advisors

FLC Capital Advisors increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 267 shares during the quarter. FLC Capital Advisors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $857,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 121.8% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,007,000 after buying an additional 96,931 shares during the period. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $2,799,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,888,000 after acquiring an additional 39,445 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Trust Co. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 95.5% during the first quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 26,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,215,000 after acquiring an additional 13,082 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 68.4% during the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,897 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 2,802 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5%

VZ opened at $40.56 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.07. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications 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).