New Century Financial Group LLC Increases Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

New Century Financial Group LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,627 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 603 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Cooper Financial Group grew its position in Verizon Communications by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 12,057 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 13.9% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 55,642 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 6,790 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $113,000. Lane & Associates LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 50,270 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,109,000 after purchasing an additional 4,185 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE VZ opened at $43.99 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.26 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $185.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.17%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

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).