Wealth Management Associates Inc. Buys 460 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Wealth Management Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,728 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the quarter. Wealth Management Associates Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,726 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. Kendall Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 29.3% during the first quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 6,592 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Finally, Smith Salley Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.9% during the first quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 40,506 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,837,000 after purchasing an additional 3,663 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.4%

VZ opened at $39.38 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $166.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.0%. 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

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).