Liberty Wealth Management LLC Buys 17,486 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Liberty Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 180.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,180 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,486 shares during the period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Choreo LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 58.4% in the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 169,193 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,057,000 after acquiring an additional 62,368 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 162,184 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,421 shares during the period. Prudential PLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 610,761 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,188,000 after buying an additional 108,220 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,600 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $932,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Invera Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,076 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $663,000 after acquiring an additional 3,154 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VZ. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.72 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $179.81 billion, a PE ratio of 15.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.54. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. 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 firm posted $1.21 EPS. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.35%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

About Verizon Communications

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).