Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Position Raised by Tredje AP fonden

Tredje AP fonden raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 42.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,025,912 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 305,200 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $44,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the second quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 51,036 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,208,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.0% in the second quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 21,212 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $918,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.6% in the second quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 63,025 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,727,000 after buying an additional 1,606 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 35.9% in the second quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 6,365 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 1,682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 143.3% during the second quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 45,500 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,969,000 after purchasing an additional 26,800 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $39.77 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. 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 company has a market capitalization of $167.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.82.

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 company had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 currently 58.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

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).