Pure Financial Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 29.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,730 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,913 shares during the quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $354,000. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth about $31,252,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 6,561 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 926 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 215,881 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,056,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,387 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,077 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.36 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.31 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $174.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50 day moving average is $43.17 and its 200 day moving average is $41.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).