AE Wealth Management LLC Buys 125,645 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,185,741 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 125,645 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $52,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hudock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 39,842 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the third quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 8,571 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Red Spruce Capital LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the third quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 71,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,144,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Camden National Bank grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 5,666 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, FRG Family Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. FRG Family Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,517 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $628,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.42 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.39 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.27 and its 200-day moving average is $41.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.42, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.34.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 19.31%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on VZ shares. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 16th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.43.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.