Horan Capital Advisors LLC. Has $3.71 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Horan Capital Advisors LLC. decreased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 362 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for about 1.3% of Horan Capital Advisors LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Horan Capital Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,882,164,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 127.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $821,900,000 after buying an additional 12,220,777 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 92.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $851,989,000 after buying an additional 10,882,873 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at about $250,312,000. Finally, Third Point LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $173,325,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.15 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.52. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. The firm has a market cap of $173.22 billion, a PE ratio of 15.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.59%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

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).