Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 149.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 35,126 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 21,037 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after acquiring an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.9% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $92,445,000 after acquiring an additional 57,583 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,954,357 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $222,500,000 after purchasing an additional 129,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 579,713 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,035,000 after purchasing an additional 18,346 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $41.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $175.33 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43. 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 52-week low of $35.93 and a 52-week high of $45.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.678 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

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).