Orleans Capital Management Corp LA Boosts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Orleans Capital Management Corp LA grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,374 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Orleans Capital Management Corp LA’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares in the last quarter. Mosley Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $433,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted 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 period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in 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 worth $24,400,000 after purchasing an additional 428,776 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.09.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.91 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.99. 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 company has a market cap of $189.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 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).