LPL Financial LLC Acquires 299,540 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,030,151 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 299,540 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $289,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the second quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 21,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $889,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.0% during the second quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,383 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the first quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BCS Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% during the second quarter. BCS Wealth Management now owns 11,141 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.75 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.82. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.58. The company has a market cap of $184.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 101.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.66.

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).