Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Thrive Wealth Management LLC

Thrive Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,953 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,599 shares during the quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VZ. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 333,096,547 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $12,954,125,000 after purchasing an additional 2,066,003 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.0% in the first 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 buying an additional 3,448,893 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 339,775 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $3,115,932,000 after buying an additional 78,995,341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 11,987,691 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 5th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.40.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $33.54 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.25 and a fifty-two week high of $42.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $33.70 and a 200-day moving average of $35.94. The stock has a market cap of $140.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $32.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.30 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.58% and a return on equity of 22.28%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 6th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.20%.

Insider Transactions at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Samantha Hammock sold 12,557 shares of the business’s 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

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).