Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Main Street Financial Solutions LLC

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,127 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 988 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Verizon Communications by 75.9% in the third quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,850 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 5,977 shares in the last quarter. Arjuna Capital bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,995,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.1% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 568,135 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $25,515,000 after purchasing an additional 17,182 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 48.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 827,813 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,177,000 after buying an additional 270,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Verizon Communications by 73.2% in the third quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,835 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,160,000 after buying an additional 10,918 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.60 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,150,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,541,059. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $43.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.41. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $35.81 and a one year high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $172.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.61%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted 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. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

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).