Burney Co. Has $9.90 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Burney Co. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 228,779 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,631 shares during the period. Burney Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $9,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Advantage Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 549.5% in the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $39.77 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $42.31 and a 200-day moving average of $42.82. The company has a market capitalization of $167.67 billion, a PE ratio of 8.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.74. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $47.35.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.80 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.9%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.97%.

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).