Forum Financial Management LP Acquires 317 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 68,864 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 121.8% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,007,000 after buying an additional 96,931 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $309,551,000 after acquiring an additional 722,559 shares during the period. Element Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,799,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after acquiring an additional 39,445 shares during the period. Finally, Davidson Trust Co. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 95.5% in the 1st quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 26,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 13,082 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.1%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.86 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The stock has a market cap of $168.04 billion, a PE ratio of 9.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications 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).