MONECO Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

MONECO Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) by 9.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,382 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,748 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1,921.1% during the 4th quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,583,175 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $82,262,000 after purchasing an additional 1,504,842 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 87,378 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,540,000 after purchasing an additional 4,333 shares during the last quarter. Rollins Financial purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $504,000. Goodman Financial Corp grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Goodman Financial Corp now owns 150,603 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,825,000 after purchasing an additional 7,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yarbrough Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,429,000. 63.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $44.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $188.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.01, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.33. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $43.76 and a twelve month high of $56.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $49.40 and a 200 day moving average of $51.01.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 26.95% and a net margin of 15.48%. The business had revenue of $33.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 5.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 8th were issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 7th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.70%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 51.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $59.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 19th. Bank of America downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $64.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 28th. Barclays downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Craig L. Silliman sold 1,558 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $77,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,825,950. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 4,674 shares of company stock valued at $237,377 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verizon Communications Profile

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Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, offers communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. Its Consumer segment provides postpaid and prepaid service plans; internet access on notebook computers and tablets; wireless equipment, including smartphones and other handsets; and wireless-enabled internet devices, such as tablets, and other wireless-enabled connected devices comprising smart watches.