Rockland Trust Co. Acquires 4,586 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Rockland Trust Co. grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 418,526 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 4,586 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $18,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $318,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.8% during the third quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,308 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.9% during the third 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 during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.0% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 457,629 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $20,552,000 after purchasing an additional 14,518 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.2 %

VZ opened at $44.52 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.14 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day moving average is $42.20 and its 200 day moving average is $41.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 8.38%. The company’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. Research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. 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 6.09%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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).