Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Raises Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 5.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,658,745 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 79,335 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 1.3% of Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $68,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the second quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 21,568 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $889,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,383 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Private Portfolio Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 27,457 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.15. 18,100,349 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,511,424. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.14 and a 1-year high of $43.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $173.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.59%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

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).