Legal & General Group Plc Grows Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,106,887 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,581,848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% in the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the second quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 21,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $889,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.0% during the second 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 raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.61 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $45.05. The firm has a market cap of $187.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.91. 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 quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.08%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.09.

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).