Nwam LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Nwam LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 24.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,845 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,340 shares during the quarter. Nwam LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $25,000. Advantage Trust Co grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $40.72 on Wednesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The company has a market cap of $171.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 58.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented 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. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. BNP Paribas lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings cut Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Two equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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).