Naviter Wealth LLC Buys 2,486 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Naviter Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 44,379 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,486 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $1,882,164,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 127.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 12,220,777 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $851,989,000 after acquiring an additional 10,882,873 shares during the last quarter. Third Point LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $173,325,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 419.8% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,141,257 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $193,825,000 after buying an additional 4,152,099 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of VZ traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.10. 21,656,635 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,928,711. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.09.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.47%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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).