Elyxium Wealth LLC Buys 7,226 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Elyxium Wealth LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 74.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,869 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,226 shares during the quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $730,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,171,941 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,700,279,000 after acquiring an additional 4,347,416 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,866,405 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,983,225,000 after buying an additional 1,172,175 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 303.9% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 49,859,967 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,261,648,000 after buying an additional 37,516,167 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,475,099 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,062,750,000 after buying an additional 431,789 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 41,993,829 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,904,840,000 after buying an additional 3,100,342 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.44 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $42.22 and its 200 day moving average is $42.79. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $47.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.43, 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.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $33.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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).