Spring Capital Management LLC Has $3.63 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Spring Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 80,706 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,744 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up approximately 2.7% of Spring Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Spring Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares during the period. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after buying an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 102,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after buying an additional 2,953 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 973,547 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $40,149,000 after buying an additional 53,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 164.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 94,339 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,237,000 after buying an additional 58,657 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective 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 objective 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. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.88. 2,580,619 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,457,277. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.97 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.01 and a 200 day moving average of $41.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $176.28 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.12%.

Verizon Communications Company 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).