Ariadne Wealth Management LP Purchases Shares of 7,414 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Ariadne Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 7,414 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, September 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.09.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $44.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $189.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $45.36.

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 company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a positive change 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 payout ratio is presently 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).