Violich Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Violich Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 170,057 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,450 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for 1.0% of Violich Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Violich Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2,159.1% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 994 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE VZ opened at $43.99 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $185.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.26 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.94 and a 200-day moving average of $41.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.17%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

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).