Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Raises Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 22.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,030 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,228 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,882,164,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 127.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $821,900,000 after buying an additional 12,220,777 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 92.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $851,989,000 after buying an additional 10,882,873 shares in the last quarter. Third Point LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $173,325,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 419.8% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,141,257 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $193,825,000 after buying an additional 4,152,099 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.24 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.07 and a 200 day moving average of $40.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.59 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. 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. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, March 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).