Summitry LLC Buys 6,351 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Summitry LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 142,404 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 6,351 shares during the period. Summitry LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,162,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Advantage Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.62. The stock has a market cap of $173.02 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 was Friday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on VZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

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).