Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 163,178 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,530 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 121.8% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 176,531 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $8,007,000 after purchasing an additional 96,931 shares in the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2,916.8% in the second quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 347,716 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $15,046,000 after buying an additional 336,190 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 11.0% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 7,297,469 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $309,551,000 after buying an additional 722,559 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 205,416 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,888,000 after buying an additional 39,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,100,342 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $40.91 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.24. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $47.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 58.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VZ. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.31.

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).