Inceptionr LLC Makes New $689,000 Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 15,923 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $689,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Advantage Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.90 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

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 the consensus estimate 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 $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 58.97%.

About Verizon Communications

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).