Empower Advisory Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,060,380 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,868 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $93,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 81.0% during the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 71.8% during the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 114.6% during the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $396,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $441,352.80. The trade was a 47.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE VZ opened at $42.96 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.75. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $181.15 billion, a PE ratio of 10.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Company 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).