Marshall Financial Group LLC Acquires 1,424 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Marshall Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 74,609 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,424 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up 0.9% of Marshall Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Marshall Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 27,457 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Selective Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,511 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the first quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Redburn Atlantic raised Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $41.12. 6,653,911 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,298,411. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.12. The company has a market cap of $173.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 99.25%.

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).