357,230 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Acquired by Miramar Capital LLC

Miramar Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 357,230 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $14,732,000. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 3.7% of Miramar Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after buying an additional 37,732 shares in the last quarter. Mosley Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $433,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $961,000 after buying an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 196.3% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 647,218 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $24,400,000 after buying an additional 428,776 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.4 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.89 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.35 and a 200-day moving average of $40.73. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $45.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $184.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.18%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on VZ shares. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Company 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).