Saxon Interests Inc. Purchases 1,370 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Saxon Interests Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,934 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,370 shares during the quarter. Saxon Interests Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on VZ. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.14.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

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

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 the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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).