Stillwater Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 14.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,679 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 724 shares during the period. Stillwater Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rinkey Investments purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Lansing Street Advisors purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Gibson Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 62.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Get Verizon Communications alerts:Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $60.00 to $51.00 and set a "peer perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 2nd. Bank of America cut shares of Verizon Communications from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "hold" rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Friday, June 24th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $57.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 25th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reduced their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.61.
Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications
In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 1,558 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.42, for a total transaction of $80,112.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,717,582.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.Verizon Communications Stock Performance
NYSE:VZ opened at $39.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.11 and a twelve month high of $55.51. The company has a market capitalization of $165.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.36.
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.48% and a return on equity of 26.95%. The business had revenue of $33.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Verizon Communications Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.6525 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.61 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 6th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.30%.
About Verizon Communications
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Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, offers communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. Its Consumer segment provides postpaid and prepaid service plans; internet access on notebook computers and tablets; wireless equipment, including smartphones and other handsets; and wireless-enabled internet devices, such as tablets, and other wireless-enabled connected devices comprising smart watches.
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