Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC Has $418,000 Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,308 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,130 shares during the quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 857,524 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $38,511,000 after purchasing an additional 55,411 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 58.0% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,975,000 after purchasing an additional 644,761 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.3% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 457,629 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $20,552,000 after buying an additional 14,518 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 15,958 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $717,000 after buying an additional 832 shares during the period. Finally, Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $207,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on 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 upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $44.52 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $187.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $42.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.08. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.14 and a twelve month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.09%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.12%.

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).