Powell Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Powell Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,896 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Private Portfolio Partners LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.8% in 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. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 10,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE VZ traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $41.24. The stock had a trading volume of 25,437,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,920,557. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $173.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.99. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.45%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.77.

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).