Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Acquires 509 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,281 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for 0.7% of Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,267,175 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,739,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216,963 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,581,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,887 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,466,446,000 after buying an additional 535,322 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $678,739,000 after buying an additional 104,447 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,127,360 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $541,372,000 after buying an additional 936,823 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. 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 research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of VZ opened at $41.07 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.15 and its 200 day moving average is $41.37. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.40 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $172.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.60%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 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).