Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC Has $1.03 Million Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,980 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 805 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $354,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.6% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 62,559 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,625,000 after buying an additional 2,753 shares in the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.7% during the first quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 29,130 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,222,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, PYA Waltman Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.2% during the first quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 22,568 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $947,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

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 stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock opened at $41.65 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $175.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.93 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.45.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.51%. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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).