Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC Has $1.95 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,347 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,395 shares during the period. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.1 %

VZ stock opened at $41.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $174.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.34 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 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. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.55%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 101.12%.

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).