Unison Advisors LLC Purchases 985 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Unison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 61,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 985 shares during the period. Unison Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 863 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.78.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.75. 11,818,717 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,871,514. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.52. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $171.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 99.25%.

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).