Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Position Boosted by Institutional & Family Asset Management LLC

Institutional & Family Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,290 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 535 shares during the quarter. Institutional & Family Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 333,096,547 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $12,954,125,000 after purchasing an additional 2,066,003 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 95,391.7% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 136,655,301 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,082,211,000 after purchasing an additional 136,512,194 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 89,325,871 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,446,395,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448,893 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 80,022,393 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,105,742,000 after acquiring an additional 339,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,115,932,000 after acquiring an additional 78,995,341 shares during the last quarter. 61.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $35.71 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $42.58. The company has a market cap of $150.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.40.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.58% and a return on equity of 21.26%. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.32 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th were paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 6th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.45%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 53.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VZ. Edward Jones downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Tigress Financial cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $64.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. Barclays upgraded Verizon Communications from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).