Sykon Capital LLC Invests $223,000 in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sykon Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,400 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Executive Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,037 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 47.2% in the second quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 71,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,968,000 after acquiring an additional 23,078 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 10.2% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,243,730 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $295,840,000 after purchasing an additional 668,820 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 557,200 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $22,979,000 after purchasing an additional 13,921 shares during the period. Finally, Equity Investment Corp grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 4,011,647 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $165,440,000 after purchasing an additional 64,212 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.86 on Friday. 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 $43.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.60. The company has a market capitalization of $184.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.37, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.18%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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 note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

About Verizon Communications

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).