Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Grows Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,991,584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 210,698 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $82,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,130,494,000 after purchasing an additional 4,615,075 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,213,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,009,388,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205,449 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 100,326,792 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,322,700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,504 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,504,150,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $915,552,000 after acquiring an additional 3,743,892 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.5%

Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.73. The company had a trading volume of 4,334,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,518,494. The business has a fifty day moving average of $40.50 and a 200 day moving average of $41.72. The stock has a market cap of $163.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.34. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.39 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.25.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.