Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Purchases 5,392,416 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 20.6%, owning approximately 31.6 million shares worth around $1.43 billion as of the latest SEC filing.
• Verizon reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings with $1.22 earnings per share and revenue of $34.5 billion, surpassing analysts' estimates.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6775, representing an annualized yield of 6.3% and a payout ratio of 63.17%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 20.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,626,373 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 5,392,416 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.75% of Verizon Communications worth $1,434,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management US LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $402,000. Rollins Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $338,000. Shelton Capital Management raised its position in Verizon Communications by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 403,267 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $16,127,000 after buying an additional 53,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 50,414 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $2,016,000 after acquiring an additional 18,452 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upgraded Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VZ traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $42.35. The stock had a trading volume of 17,800,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,145,494. The business's fifty day moving average is $42.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $178.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.87, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $47.35.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.17%.

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).