Brookstone Capital Management Boosts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 348,862 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,164 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $14,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the second quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $732,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 21,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $889,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.0% in the second quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,383 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 27,457 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the first quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.57 during trading on Friday, reaching $40.61. The stock had a trading volume of 13,377,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,707,240. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The company has a market capitalization of $170.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.55%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 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).