Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 454,754 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.9%, purchasing an additional 454,754 shares during the 1st quarter, bringing its total to approximately 3.73 million shares valued at $168.98 million.
• Verizon reported $1.22 EPS for the recent quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.19, and achieved a revenue of $34.5 billion, up 5.2% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share, representing an annualized yield of 6.3%, with a dividend payout ratio of 63.17%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 13.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,729,210 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 454,754 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.09% of Verizon Communications worth $168,978,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the first quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the first quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 30,906 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 81.0% in the first quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. now owns 543 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 71.8% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, NCM Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 18,390 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $735,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on VZ. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eleven investment 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 presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.35.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.18 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $182.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $42.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.88.

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

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 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).

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