Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co

Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 190,278 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,049 shares during the quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 2,314 shares in the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,678,000 after purchasing an additional 37,732 shares during the period. Windle Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Windle Wealth LLC now owns 164,242 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $433,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $41.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 20,009,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,351,631. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $175.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $30.14 and a one year high of $43.42. The business’s 50-day moving average is $40.86 and its 200-day moving average is $40.48.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 99.25%.

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).