Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Purchased by Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 601,564 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,906 shares during the quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $26,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sargent Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the first quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 80,178 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,637,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 21,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $920,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 31,513 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Monetary Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 30,150 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $167.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.69 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 58.97%.

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).