Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Suvretta Capital Management LLC

Suvretta Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 758,674 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 148,770 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $34,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,711,309 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $177,799,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.6% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $536,791,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,247 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 37.9% during the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $287,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,951 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VZ. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $44.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.90 and a 200-day moving average of $41.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.11%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

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).