Hoxton Planning & Management LLC Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Hoxton Planning & Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,649 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,996 shares during the period. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 50.7% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 41,876 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,357,000 after acquiring an additional 14,090 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.4% in the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 43,934 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,424,000 after buying an additional 2,629 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 46.2% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 597,822 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $19,375,000 after buying an additional 189,041 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 10.5% in the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 238,051 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,715,000 after buying an additional 22,554 shares during the period. Finally, McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 59.0% in the third quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,269 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 3,810 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE VZ traded down $0.06 on Wednesday, reaching $41.02. 6,667,644 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,785,570. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.98. The company has a market cap of $172.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company had revenue of $33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a $0.665 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.48%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.77.

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).