Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ is Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC.’s 6th Largest Position

Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 232,814 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,570 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for 5.5% of Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hudock Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the second quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 39,842 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,724,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 21,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $920,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Camden National Bank boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 5,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Monetary Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 30,150 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. BNP Paribas cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $41.22 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $41.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.53. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted 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 company 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 revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $0.69 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 58.97%.

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).