Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 95,824,245 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,081,241 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.28% of Verizon Communications worth $4,289,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $216,266,000 after buying an additional 4,711,309 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at $177,799,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 77.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,101,616 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $274,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,656,396 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in 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 worth $536,791,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,247 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of Verizon Communications stock opened at $42.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $178.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.44. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.46 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.83.

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

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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).