High Falls Advisors Inc Makes New Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

High Falls Advisors Inc bought a new position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,496 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 21,693 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $868,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 568.3% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 35,273 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,411,000 after acquiring an additional 29,995 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 26,642 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 590,590 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $23,618,000 after buying an additional 33,845 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE VZ opened at $43.52 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $42.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.91. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $183.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The cell phone carrier reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $34.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Arete Research raised Verizon Communications to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.35.

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).