Sax Wealth Advisors LLC Has $522,000 Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Sax Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 26.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,667 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,689 shares during the period. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its position 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.23 on Friday, reaching $40.75. The stock had a trading volume of 11,818,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,871,514. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.52. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.14 and a 1 year high of $43.42. The company has a market cap of $171.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price target 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 increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.78.

About Verizon Communications

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).