Austin Private Wealth LLC Increases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,207 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 105,433 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,975,000 after purchasing an additional 3,054 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in Verizon Communications by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 229,298 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,645,000 after buying an additional 12,399 shares in the last quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $244,000. Krilogy Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 14,860 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 21,925 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 1,681 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.75. The company had a trading volume of 11,818,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,871,514. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $171.53 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.52.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 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).