Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Purchases 174,636 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 34.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 684,597 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 174,636 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $31,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $381,000. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,110,948 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $50,393,000 after acquiring an additional 76,083 shares during the period. Rempart Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 52.8% during the 1st quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 310,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $14,079,000 after acquiring an additional 107,200 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,137,904 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $51,126,000 after acquiring an additional 63,474 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,100,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America boosted their target price 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. Arete Research raised shares of Verizon Communications to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Eleven 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.52 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $42.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $183.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.17%.

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).

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VZ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.