9258 Wealth Management LLC Grows Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 26.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,086 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,561 shares during the quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $41.31. 9,423,239 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,710,275. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. 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 research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.23.

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).