Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Acquires 13,082 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,947 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,082 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research 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 stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Seven research 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 3.8 %

NYSE VZ opened at $42.72 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.54. The firm has a market cap of $179.81 billion, a PE ratio of 15.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend 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).