Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Acquired by Pittenger & Anderson Inc.

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 14,706.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 65,295 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 64,854 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $40.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.06 billion, a PE ratio of 9.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $43.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.06. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.34%.

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).