Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. Has $2.55 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,750 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,438 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for 1.3% of Ranch Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Mosley Wealth Management bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $433,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $961,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 196.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 647,218 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $24,400,000 after purchasing an additional 428,776 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, September 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $43.95 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.75. The stock has a market cap of $185.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $45.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current 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 $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.17%. 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 payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

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).