Sfmg LLC Has $5.32 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sfmg LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 128,936 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,404 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,240,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 21,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $889,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,383 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $44.68 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $188.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.86. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $45.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect 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 given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.07%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.03.

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).