Raymond James Trust N.A. Boosts Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 501,787 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,818 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $22,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth $354,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.8% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 173,742 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,560,000 after buying an additional 1,384 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Inc. CA grew its position in Verizon Communications by 23.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 58,287 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,446,000 after buying an additional 10,951 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 88.5% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 81,441 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,417,000 after buying an additional 38,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 130,883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,492,000 after acquiring an additional 8,033 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.8 %

VZ opened at $42.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $179.18 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.46 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $42.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.51.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.37%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

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).