Heritage Wealth Advisors Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Heritage Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,306 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,644 shares during the quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Advantage Trust Co raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 222.2% in the 2nd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 725 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped 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 report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of VZ opened at $41.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.85 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s fifty day moving average is $41.44 and its 200 day moving average is $42.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.74. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 58.97%.

About Verizon Communications

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).