First Horizon Advisors Inc. Has $40.65 Million Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 939,449 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,382 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 1.1% of First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $40,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 56.8% during the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 47,627 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,159,000 after buying an additional 17,250 shares during the period. Callan Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 42.0% during the 1st quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 10,898 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 3,222 shares during the period. Interchange Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth about $241,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 23,397 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,061,000 after buying an additional 2,555 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $165.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The business’s 50-day moving average is $42.12 and its 200-day moving average is $42.75. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The business had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on VZ. Weiss Ratings downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

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).