BKM Wealth Management LLC Acquires 257 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

BKM Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 627.8% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.2 %

VZ stock opened at $41.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.06. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $175.65 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.14.

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).