MJP Associates Inc. ADV Has $627,000 Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

MJP Associates Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,855 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,007 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 333,096,547 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $12,954,125,000 after acquiring an additional 2,066,003 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 89,325,871 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,446,395,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448,893 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 80,022,393 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,105,742,000 after purchasing an additional 339,775 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 88,532.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 79,084,569 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,115,932,000 after purchasing an additional 78,995,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,976,459 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,678,273,000 after buying an additional 11,987,691 shares during the period. 61.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In related news, EVP Samantha Hammock sold 12,557 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total transaction of $418,022.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $33.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.94. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.25 and a twelve month high of $42.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.98 billion, a PE ratio of 6.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $32.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.30 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 15.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.73 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.93%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 6th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. Raymond James cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, Edward Jones lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.40.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).