Red Door Wealth Management LLC Raises Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Red Door Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 89,402 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,935 shares during the period. Red Door Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,030 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 2,228 shares in the last quarter. River Street Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 14,300 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 244,071 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $10,241,000 after purchasing an additional 25,300 shares in the last quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 18,897 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 3,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chemung Canal Trust Co. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 21,743 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 2,796 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $41.24. 27,639,192 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,795,164. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The company has a market cap of $173.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.04.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.45%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.77.

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).