MJP Associates Inc. ADV Takes Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

MJP Associates Inc. ADV bought a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,581 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $360,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,625,025 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,396,167,000 after acquiring an additional 930,367 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,882,164,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $851,989,000 after acquiring an additional 10,882,873 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 127.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $821,900,000 after acquiring an additional 12,220,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,602,847 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $362,027,000 after acquiring an additional 341,056 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.24 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.61%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on VZ. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.77.

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).