Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Purchases 57,041 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 84.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 124,934 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 57,041 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,678,000 after purchasing an additional 37,732 shares during the period. Mosley Wealth Management bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $433,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 196.3% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 647,218 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $24,400,000 after purchasing an additional 428,776 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.43 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $41.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $44.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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).