Profund Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Profund Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,412 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.33 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two 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. The company has a market capitalization of $186.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.79.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.12%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on VZ. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on 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, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.66.

About Verizon Communications

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).