Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Position Lifted by Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC

Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 16,246.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 93,990 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 93,415 shares during the quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors increased its position in Verizon Communications by 127.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,801,067 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $821,900,000 after purchasing an additional 12,220,777 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Verizon Communications by 92.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 22,599,173 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $851,989,000 after acquiring an additional 10,882,873 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at approximately $250,312,000. Third Point LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter worth approximately $173,325,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 419.8% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,141,257 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $193,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,152,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.9 %

Verizon Communications stock opened at $44.33 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.14 and a 12 month high of $45.05. The stock has a market cap of $186.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 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 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities 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 given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, September 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.66.

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).