Ariadne Wealth Management LP Acquires New Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Ariadne Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,414 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. KeyCorp lowered their price target 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.09.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $44.91 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $189.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.99.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.04%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend 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).