Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 793,595 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 54,635 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $33,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Private Portfolio Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 27,457 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.77.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.5 %

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $40.83. The stock had a trading volume of 15,558,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,857,779. 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 $171.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.99.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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).