Nuveen LLC Buys Shares of 14,588,189 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired 14,588,189 shares of Verizon Communications, worth approximately $661.7 million, during the first quarter, increasing its stake to 0.35% of the company.
• Recent ratings upgrades from various analysts include a raise from "hold" to "buy" by Wall Street Zen, and target price increases from Wells Fargo and Bank of America, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $47.35.
• Verizon reported $1.22 EPS, beating estimates, with revenue increasing by 5.2% year-over-year to $34.5 billion, and also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6775.

Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,588,189 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $661,720,000. Nuveen LLC owned 0.35% of Verizon Communications as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased 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 valued at $530,576,000 after purchasing an additional 10,300,369 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased 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 valued at $357,398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,695,736 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 52.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 6,846,514 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 20.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 5,392,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 45,043,310 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,801,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,951,733 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Verizon Communications from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Bank of America raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $43.12 on Friday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.83. The company has a market capitalization of $181.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.05, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.36. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The company had revenue of $34.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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).

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