Cypress Capital Group Has $2 Million Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Cypress Capital Group increased its stakes in Verizon Communications by 43.6%, acquiring 44,089 shares valued at $2 million as of the latest SEC disclosure.
• Verizon's recent earnings report revealed $1.22 EPS, surpassing estimates, alongside a revenue of $34.50 billion, representing a 5.2% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share, reflecting a 6.3% annual yield and a payout ratio of 63.17%.

Cypress Capital Group boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 43.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,089 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 13,392 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth about $661,720,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 737.5% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,697,003 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $530,576,000 after buying an additional 10,300,369 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3,601.6% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,937,180 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $357,398,000 after buying an additional 8,695,736 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 19,828,378 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $792,937,000 after buying an additional 6,846,514 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 31,626,373 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,434,572,000 after buying an additional 5,392,416 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Monday, reaching $43.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,908,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,313,446. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $42.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.88. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The company has a market cap of $182.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.36.

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

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 63.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.35.

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).