Sage Investment Advisers LLC Purchases 1,405 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sage Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 21.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,027 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,405 shares during the period. Sage Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $337,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 86,369 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,624,000 after purchasing an additional 4,506 shares during the period. Clarity Financial LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.3% during the first quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 57,840 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,427,000 after buying an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 41.7% during the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 16,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $684,000 after buying an additional 4,797 shares during the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the first quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 12,322 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 43.3% during the first quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 3,515 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $40.69. The stock had a trading volume of 3,588,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,770,303. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.99. The company has a market capitalization of $171.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.77.

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).