Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Holdings Raised by Verity Asset Management Inc.

Verity Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 25.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,401 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,522 shares during the quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Lewis Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 21,345 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the period. Sittner & Nelson LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 12,809 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 1,570 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 17,875 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 53,643 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,317,000 after acquiring an additional 7,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 1.7% during the third quarter. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 157,593 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $7,077,000 after purchasing an additional 2,599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $40.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $170.70 billion, a PE ratio of 17.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.40 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.15 and its 200-day moving average is $41.37. 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 (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

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).