Savvy Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 37.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,719 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 14,500 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Advantage Trust Co grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 222.2% in the 2nd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 725 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 2.2%

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.20 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.53 and a 200-day moving average of $42.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.48 billion, a PE ratio of 9.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.37.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.41.

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).