Motiv8 Investments LLC Boosts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Motiv8 Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,262 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,175 shares during the quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 2,314 shares during the period. Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,678,000 after buying an additional 37,732 shares during the period. Windle Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Windle Wealth LLC now owns 164,242 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,192,000 after buying an additional 1,270 shares during the period. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth $433,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on VZ shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of VZ stock traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $41.15. 18,100,349 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,511,424. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $43.42. The company has a market cap of $173.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.53.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.59%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 99.25%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).