Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by USA Financial Formulas

USA Financial Formulas raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 25.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,199 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,687 shares during the quarter. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Patten Group Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 21,269 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 1,262 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 35,538 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,596,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,213,320 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $54,490,000 after purchasing an additional 15,994 shares during the period. Saxon Interests Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.0% in the third quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 18,013 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 1,491 shares during the period. Finally, Peddock Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 0.9% during the third quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 44,670 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,006,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Raymond James raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight equities research 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, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of VZ opened at $44.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.20. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.62 and a 1 year high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.15%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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).