Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Position Lifted by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 15.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 37,732 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $11,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Private Portfolio Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 27,457 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the first quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the second quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 9,204 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.1% during the first quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 13,168 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 33,211 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted 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. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $40.75. 11,818,717 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,871,514. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.52. The company has a market cap of $171.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. 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 quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

About Verizon Communications

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).