Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Sage Investment Advisers LLC

Sage Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 21.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,027 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,405 shares during the quarter. Sage Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.7% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 41,876 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,357,000 after buying an additional 14,090 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 43,934 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after buying an additional 2,629 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 597,822 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $19,375,000 after buying an additional 189,041 shares in the last quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 64,328 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,085,000 after buying an additional 1,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 152,128 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,952,000 after buying an additional 26,931 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.33 on Thursday, hitting $40.69. The stock had a trading volume of 3,588,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,770,303. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market cap of $171.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.99.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.77.

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).