Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,924,447 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 101,541 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $86,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Cooper Financial Group increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 12,057 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $113,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 57,087 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,395,000 after buying an additional 2,220 shares during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2,159.1% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 994 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $961,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Eight research 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.99 on Monday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.26 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.27. The company has a market capitalization of $185.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.17%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 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).