Lynch & Associates IN Purchases 1,275 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Lynch & Associates IN raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,910 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,275 shares during the period. Lynch & Associates IN’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 2,314 shares during the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares during the period. Windle Wealth LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Windle Wealth LLC now owns 164,242 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $433,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

VZ opened at $41.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $173.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.42. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.53. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.59%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.12%.

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).