Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Acquired by Prospera Financial Services Inc

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

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Advantage Trust Co lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 549.5% in the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $30,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $168.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $41.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.69. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas cut Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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).