Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. Buys 7,957 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 223,812 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,957 shares during the quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $1,882,164,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 127.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $821,900,000 after purchasing an additional 12,220,777 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $851,989,000 after purchasing an additional 10,882,873 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $250,312,000. Finally, Third Point LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $173,325,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ traded up $0.77 on Monday, reaching $41.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,960,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,415,781. The stock has a market cap of $176.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.42. The company’s fifty day moving average is $40.93 and its 200 day moving average is $40.52.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. 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).