7,861 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Acquired by Cove Private Wealth LLC

Cove Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,861 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 7,268 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 1,586 shares in the last quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 30,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $974,000 after buying an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 335,280 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $10,866,000 after buying an additional 35,774 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at $15,085,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,261,791 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $300,175,000 after buying an additional 1,385,957 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.46 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.89. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market cap of $166.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.74%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.77.

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).