Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Buys 206,717 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,177,775 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 206,717 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 0.6% of Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.08% of Verizon Communications worth $142,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 12,726 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $572,000 after acquiring an additional 753 shares during the period. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 12,960 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 69.8% in the third quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,889 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 2,009 shares during the period. Burford Brothers Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.1% in the third quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. now owns 41,700 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,873,000 after buying an additional 5,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lincoln Capital Corp bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $210,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James raised their price objective 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. Finally, Scotiabank upped 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 report on Friday, October 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.34 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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 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 .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.12%.

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).