Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Raises Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 284,139 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,821 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $12,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 121.8% during the first quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,007,000 after purchasing an additional 96,931 shares in the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% during the second quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,046,000 after purchasing an additional 336,190 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.0% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $309,551,000 after purchasing an additional 722,559 shares in the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $2,799,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.8% during the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,888,000 after purchasing an additional 39,445 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $39.44 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The business’s 50 day moving average is $42.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.79. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.43, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The company had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

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).