Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC Acquires 3,716 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 61,993 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 3,716 shares during the period. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 50.7% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 41,876 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,357,000 after acquiring an additional 14,090 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 4.3% in the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 22,877 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $741,000 after acquiring an additional 943 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth approximately $2,951,000. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 96.5% during the third quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 15,972 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $518,000 after buying an additional 7,843 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the third quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 48,662 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,577,000 after buying an additional 2,045 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VZ. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.77.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $41.26. The stock had a trading volume of 27,637,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,928,629. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

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).