Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC Purchases 13,169 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Key Points

• Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. by 9.8%, purchasing 13,169 additional shares to reach a total of 147,820 shares valued at approximately $6.4 million.
• Verizon recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.69 per share, reflecting a 6.8% yield, up from the previous $0.68 dividend.
• The stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, with a consensus average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $47.63, following various price increases from firms such as Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.

Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 9.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 147,820 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 13,169 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up 1.2% of Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $26,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.63.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $40.56 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $170.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $43.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.07. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. Verizon Communications's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.34%.

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).

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