10,077 Shares in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Bought by ROI Financial Advisors LLC

ROI Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 10,077 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $436,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Convergence Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Convergence Financial LLC now owns 12,047 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 2,253 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 939,449 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $40,650,000 after acquiring an additional 29,382 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 67,002 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,945,000 after acquiring an additional 3,281 shares during the period. Genus Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.7% during the second quarter. Genus Capital Management Inc. now owns 97,050 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,199,000 after purchasing an additional 4,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equity Investment Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.7% during the second quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 4,502,466 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $194,822,000 after purchasing an additional 30,775 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $39.72 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.48 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” 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).