Austin Private Wealth LLC Buys 1,035 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Austin Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,207 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 105,433 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,975,000 after buying an additional 3,054 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 229,298 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,645,000 after acquiring an additional 12,399 shares in the last quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $244,000. Krilogy Financial LLC grew its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.3% during 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 in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank upped their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.23 during trading hours 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. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.69 and a 200 day moving average of $40.52. The company has a market cap of $171.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

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