Ibex Wealth Advisors Grows Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Ibex Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 33.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 310,868 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 78,718 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for about 1.4% of Ibex Wealth Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Ibex Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $13,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Advantage Trust Co raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 222.2% in the 2nd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 725 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $40.03 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $47.35. 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 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. 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. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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).