Zega Financial LLC Acquires New Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Zega Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,429 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,267,175 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,739,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216,963 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,466,446,000 after purchasing an additional 535,322 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $851,989,000 after purchasing an additional 10,882,873 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 127.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $821,900,000 after buying an additional 12,220,777 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $678,739,000 after buying an additional 104,447 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $44.10 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $45.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.45, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.29 and a 200-day moving average of $40.71.

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, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.15%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

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).