Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 54,635 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 793,595 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,635 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $33,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 627.8% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 655 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $40.83. 15,558,362 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,857,779. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $171.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 8.44%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.77.

Verizon Communications Company 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).