Souders Financial Advisors Grows Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Souders Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 24.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,273 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,832 shares during the period. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 127.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $821,900,000 after purchasing an additional 12,220,777 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $851,989,000 after purchasing an additional 10,882,873 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $250,312,000. Third Point LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $173,325,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 419.8% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,141,257 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $193,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,152,099 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE:VZ opened at $44.91 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.99. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $189.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.04%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.09.

Verizon Communications 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).