Marex Group plc Takes $700,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Marex Group plc bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 16,172 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $700,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.1% during the second quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 362,539 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $15,502,000 after buying an additional 14,233 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.5% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 37,196 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,609,000 after acquiring an additional 4,985 shares in the last quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 80.5% in the 2nd quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 188,477 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,155,000 after acquiring an additional 84,030 shares during the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 26,618 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after acquiring an additional 9,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,269 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on VZ. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.31.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.7%

VZ stock opened at $40.91 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $172.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.82 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

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).