Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ – Free Report) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,586 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $216,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,711,309 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the third quarter valued at approximately $177,799,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $274,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,656,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,289,054,000 after acquiring an additional 2,081,241 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp cut shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price 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. Raymond James lifted 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. Bank of America lifted their target price 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. Finally, Scotiabank boosted 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.54.
Verizon Communications Trading Down 3.0 %
Shares of VZ stock opened at $37.78 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.56 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. 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 (NYSE:VZ – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.
Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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).
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