Wealth Management Associates Inc. Has $1.85 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Wealth Management Associates Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 42,728 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the quarter. Wealth Management Associates Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $25,000. Advantage Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $30,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on VZ. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $50.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4%

Verizon Communications stock opened at $39.38 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $166.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.0%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 64.34%.

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).