DGS Capital Management LLC Acquires 4,797 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 41.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,797 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 50.7% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 41,876 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,357,000 after buying an additional 14,090 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 22,877 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $741,000 after buying an additional 943 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,951,000. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 96.5% during the 3rd quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 15,972 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $518,000 after buying an additional 7,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 48,662 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,577,000 after buying an additional 2,045 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.99. The company has a market capitalization of $171.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.24, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.77.

Verizon Communications 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).