Mather Group LLC. Raises Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 70.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 13,527 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3,782.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,974,813 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $149,850,000 after purchasing an additional 3,872,434 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 122,090 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,603,000 after acquiring an additional 26,267 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 34.2% in the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 135,295 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,101,000 after acquiring an additional 34,477 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 13,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 115,482 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,354,000 after acquiring an additional 7,548 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VZ shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.46 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $40.26. 18,100,834 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,001,678. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.52. The firm has a market cap of $169.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.61%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.25%.

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).