Cooke & Bieler LP Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cooke & Bieler LP increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,843,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 165,456 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $76,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of VZ stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.10. 4,991,258 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,302,287. The stock has a market cap of $181.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.51. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $43.42. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.78.

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).