Signaturefd LLC Has $2.94 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,562 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,006 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 21,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $889,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,945 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 4.4 %

Shares of VZ traded down $1.94 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $41.76. 24,305,111 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,446,967. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.26 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.00 and a 200-day moving average of $41.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.49%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.31.

Verizon Communications 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).