Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 228,116 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 30.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 983,054 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 228,116 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up 0.6% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $40,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management grew its position in Verizon Communications by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 9,353 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314 shares during the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Windle Wealth LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Windle Wealth LLC now owns 164,242 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $6,192,000 after acquiring an additional 1,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $433,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $41.15. 18,100,349 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,511,424. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.14 and a 52 week high of $43.42. The firm has a market cap of $173.21 billion, a PE ratio of 15.36, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.59%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 99.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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).