Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 6,292 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,292 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Vima LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.78 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.59, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.37%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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).