Thrive Wealth Management LLC Buys 1,599 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Thrive Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,953 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,599 shares during the period. Thrive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BTC Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 41,453 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,894 shares in the last quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 22.1% during the second quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.8% during the second quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. now owns 8,606 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 1,176 shares during the last quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 11.0% in the second quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 88,670 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after acquiring an additional 8,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Selective Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $334,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other news, EVP Samantha Hammock sold 12,557 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total transaction of $418,022.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $33.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.73. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $31.25 and a one year high of $42.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $33.70 and its 200-day moving average is $35.94.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $32.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.30 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.58% and a return on equity of 22.28%. The company’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.73 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 6th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.93%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 52.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Edward Jones cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.40.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).