Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC Has $475,000 Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 398 shares during the period. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.9% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 548,696 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $22,628,000 after purchasing an additional 44,957 shares in the last quarter. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 66.3% during the 2nd quarter. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 13,855 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 5,524 shares during the period. First Interstate Bank grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 31.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Interstate Bank now owns 6,492 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,571 shares during the last quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $800,000. Finally, Andra AP fonden raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.1% during the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 906,100 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,368,000 after acquiring an additional 90,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.1 %

VZ opened at $43.62 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $183.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.25%.

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).