Tradition Wealth Management LLC Acquires 525 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Tradition Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,698 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 19.6% during the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 8,877 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 70.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 32,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,375,000 after buying an additional 13,527 shares during the period. Sage Capital Advisors llc increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 130,575 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $5,385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 30.1% during the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 70,127 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,892,000 after acquiring an additional 16,222 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.34 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.70. The stock has a market cap of $186.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 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 (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.12%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Raymond James raised their price objective on 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 Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

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).