AE Wealth Management LLC Has $34.35 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 832,801 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,449 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $34,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 24,158 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 89.5% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $864,000 after purchasing an additional 9,818 shares during the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 29,368 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after purchasing an additional 5,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 177.9% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 172,358 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,418,000 after purchasing an additional 110,337 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, September 9th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Seven 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.2 %

VZ opened at $43.95 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average is $41.40 and its 200 day moving average is $40.75. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $45.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. Research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.17%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

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).