Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC Makes New $230,000 Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,315 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Western Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 6.1% during the second quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 48,704 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,783 shares during the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 79.4% during the second quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 3,317 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 1,468 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 0.7% during the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 830,333 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,928,000 after acquiring an additional 5,786 shares during the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at $94,000. Finally, Summitry LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 142,404 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,162,000 after acquiring an additional 6,351 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $41.03 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.62. 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. The company has a market cap of $173.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The business had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.41.

About Verizon Communications

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).