Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Aviance Capital Partners LLC

Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 19.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,601 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 6,091 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 50.7% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 14,090 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $2,951,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $212,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at about $12,713,000. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 46.3% in the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 26,932 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $873,000 after purchasing an additional 8,526 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial increased their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE VZ traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $41.74. 2,186,376 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,804,361. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.45, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.41. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.37%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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).