Parcion Private Wealth LLC Raises Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Parcion Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,801 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,871 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 24,158 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 89.5% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $864,000 after buying an additional 9,818 shares in the last quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 17,237 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $650,000 after buying an additional 2,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Berger Financial Group Inc lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 10,077 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of VZ traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.15. The company had a trading volume of 18,100,349 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,511,424. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. 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 $173.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.53.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.59%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).