Motiv8 Investments LLC Purchases 1,175 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Motiv8 Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,262 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $794,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $1,882,164,000. Capital World Investors increased 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 purchasing an additional 12,220,777 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased 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 purchasing an additional 10,882,873 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $250,312,000. Finally, Third Point LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $173,325,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:VZ traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.15. 18,100,349 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,511,424. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $40.93 and its 200-day moving average is $40.53. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.59%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).