Brighton Jones LLC Increases Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,830 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 3,731 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 10.4% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 307,514 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $12,682,000 after acquiring an additional 29,082 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $597,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $3,628,000. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the second quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 55,175 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $369,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $44.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $186.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $41.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.78. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $45.05.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, September 9th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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).