Wellington Capital Management Inc. Buys New Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Wellington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 15,269 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $661,000. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 0.9% of Wellington Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Hudock Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the second quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 39,842 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in 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 period. Camden National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the second quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 5,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the first quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 30,150 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,368,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazari Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the second quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 67,101 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,903,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. BNP Paribas downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.31.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $40.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.42 and a 200 day moving average of $42.24. The firm has a market cap of $172.49 billion, a PE ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.33. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 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).