Copperwynd Financial LLC Purchases 2,625 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Copperwynd Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,641 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 2,625 shares during the quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 24,158 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $911,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,525 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 89.5% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,785 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $864,000 after purchasing an additional 9,818 shares in the last quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, Evoke Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 26,331 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $993,000 after buying an additional 1,930 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Eight research 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.09.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.6 %

VZ stock opened at $44.89 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $45.05. The company has a market capitalization of $188.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.04%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

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).