Invera Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 3,154 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Invera Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 24.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,076 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,154 shares during the period. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $663,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management increased its position in Verizon Communications by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314 shares in the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Windle Wealth LLC increased its position 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 period. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $433,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

VZ stock opened at $41.15 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.93 and its 200-day moving average is $40.52. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $43.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.22 billion, a PE ratio of 15.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect 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 issued 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.59%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).