Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Bought by Finer Wealth Management Inc.

Finer Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 30.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,425 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 16,681 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 1.7% of Finer Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Finer Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 135.8% during the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,342 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 10,562 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,983,225,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172,175 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.0% in the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 38,782 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,702,000 after purchasing an additional 4,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roof Eidam Maycock Peralta LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $356,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $174.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.38. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

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).