Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Leelyn Smith LLC

Leelyn Smith LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 64,836 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Leelyn Smith LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. 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 research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $43.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.46 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

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).