Prospera Financial Services Inc Increases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 156,400 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,584 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Advantage Trust Co raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the second 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 last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at $30,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of VZ opened at $40.03 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35. The company has a market capitalization of $168.80 billion, a PE ratio of 8.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.74.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders 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 represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VZ. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).