Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Brookstone Capital Management

Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 498,457 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,298 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $17,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $32,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 544.2% during the 2nd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 889 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares during the period. Kepos Capital LP acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Founders Capital Management grew its position in Verizon Communications by 44.2% in the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 979 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the first quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 957 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verizon Communications news, EVP Samantha Hammock sold 12,557 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total transaction of $418,022.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of VZ stock opened at $33.79 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.25 and a 12-month high of $42.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 15.58% and a return on equity of 22.28%. The business had revenue of $32.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.73 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 6th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 17th. HSBC dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.50 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, June 5th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.40.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides 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).