AE Wealth Management LLC Acquires 125,645 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,185,741 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 125,645 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $52,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,504,150,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,130,494,000 after purchasing an additional 4,615,075 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Verizon Communications by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,213,255 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,009,388,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205,449 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 21.5% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $915,552,000 after acquiring an additional 3,743,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at about $113,004,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of VZ stock opened at $39.42 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.39 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $166.19 billion, a PE ratio of 8.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $40.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.57.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $33.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 58.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.43.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.