Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,322 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the period. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.7% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 41,876 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,357,000 after purchasing an additional 14,090 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 43,934 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 2,629 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 597,822 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $19,375,000 after purchasing an additional 189,041 shares in the last quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 64,328 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,085,000 after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 152,128 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,952,000 after purchasing an additional 26,931 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $41.02 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $40.02 and its 200-day moving average is $39.98. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The firm has a market cap of $172.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.48%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.77.

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).