ProShare Advisors LLC Purchases 56,534 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 679,435 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,534 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $28,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Profund Advisors LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 48,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,990,000 after purchasing an additional 3,412 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 444,460 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $18,330,000 after buying an additional 39,870 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.5% during the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 37,301 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,538,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 12.8% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 3,477,034 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $143,393,000 after acquiring an additional 393,587 shares during the period. Finally, TPG Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $266,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.26 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $45.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $41.53 and its 200-day moving average is $40.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51, 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, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.91.

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).