Mirador Capital Partners LP Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 22,292 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,528 shares during the quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $935,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Private Portfolio Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 27,457 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Selective Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its position in Verizon Communications by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. 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 research report on Friday, May 17th. Redburn Atlantic raised 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 research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ traded up $0.48 during trading on Monday, reaching $41.72. 1,956,028 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,795,799. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.06. The company has a market capitalization of $175.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.38%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

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).