Meridian Wealth Management LLC Purchases 1,876 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,000 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,876 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $381,000. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $50,393,000 after acquiring an additional 76,083 shares during the last quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 52.8% during the 1st quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,079,000 after acquiring an additional 107,200 shares during the last quarter. Welch Group LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,137,904 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $51,126,000 after acquiring an additional 63,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,100,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $182.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $42.67 and its 200-day moving average is $42.88. 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 current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

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).