Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT Increases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT increased its position in Verizon Communications by 12.6%, acquiring an additional 9,335 shares, totaling 83,637 shares valued at approximately $3.79 million.
• Verizon's shares opened at $44.24, with a market capitalization of $186.53 billion and a recent quarterly earnings report showing $1.22 earnings per share, exceeding analyst expectations.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share, yielding 6.1%, and has analysts rating it a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $47.35.

Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 12.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 83,637 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 9,335 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,794,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 114.6% in the fourth quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ opened at $44.24 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.35. The company's fifty day moving average price is $42.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.93.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.1%. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 63.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.35.

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).

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