Savant Capital LLC Buys 15,468 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 112,083 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,468 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5%

VZ opened at $40.03 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $41.86 and a 200-day moving average of $42.69. The stock has a market cap of $168.80 billion, a PE ratio of 8.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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).