Altrius Capital Management Inc Acquires 304 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Altrius Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 109,757 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 304 shares during the quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sienna Gestion increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 195,645 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,065,000 after purchasing an additional 6,190 shares in the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.4% in the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 4,872 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Kooman & Associates boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.4% during the second quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 12,690 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $523,000 after buying an additional 5,198 shares during the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $1,254,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in Verizon Communications by 67.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 642,324 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,489,000 after buying an additional 258,683 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $43.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $184.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $45.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.73.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.18%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on VZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, September 9th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

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).