AHL Investment Management Inc. Buys 3,463 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

AHL Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,308 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 3,463 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 1.3% of AHL Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. AHL Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,882,164,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 127.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $821,900,000 after acquiring an additional 12,220,777 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 92.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $851,989,000 after acquiring an additional 10,882,873 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at about $250,312,000. Finally, Third Point LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $173,325,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:VZ traded down $0.21 on Monday, reaching $40.54. 11,096,646 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,819,834. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $40.69 and its 200-day moving average is $40.51. 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 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).