Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 152,853 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 21,289 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $44.34 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company’s 50 day moving average is $42.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.70. The company has a market cap of $186.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. 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%.

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).