Ibex Wealth Advisors Grows Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Ibex Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 33.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 310,868 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 78,718 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up 1.4% of Ibex Wealth Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Ibex Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $13,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 80,178 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,637,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the second quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 21,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $920,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Monetary Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 30,150 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,368,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazari Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 67,101 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,903,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of VZ opened at $40.03 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $168.80 billion, a PE ratio of 8.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The company’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

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).