37,891 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Acquired by Wintrust Investments LLC

Wintrust Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 37,891 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,409,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Avion Wealth grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 208.2% during the 2nd quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 752 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 544.2% during the 2nd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 889 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 751 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.3 %

VZ opened at $36.00 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $42.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.05. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 21.26% and a net margin of 15.58%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.32 EPS. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 10th were paid a $0.665 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 6th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Tigress Financial decreased 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. StockNews.com raised Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, Citigroup raised Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

About Verizon Communications

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).