Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Grows Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 23.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,454 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,531 shares during the quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.43 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.03 billion, a PE ratio of 16.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $44.47.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.10%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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).