Marshall Financial Group LLC Buys 979 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Marshall Financial Group LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 71,154 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 979 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up about 0.8% of Marshall Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Marshall Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the first quarter worth $250,312,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 112.6% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $273,507,000 after buying an additional 3,481,936 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $536,791,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,247 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 37.9% during the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $287,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 153.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,806,221 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $115,729,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700,619 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a 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 objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.26.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

VZ stock opened at $43.85 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.87 and a 200-day moving average of $41.28. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.99 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a market capitalization of $184.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.678 dividend. 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 6.18%. 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).