Aviso Wealth Management Purchases 593 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Aviso Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,329 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 593 shares during the quarter. Aviso Wealth Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,678,000 after buying an additional 37,732 shares during the period. Mosley Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $433,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 196.3% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 647,218 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $24,400,000 after buying an additional 428,776 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.09.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE VZ opened at $44.89 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.95. The company has a market capitalization of $188.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $45.05.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders 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 6.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 101.12%.

Verizon Communications 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).