Crescent Grove Advisors LLC Has $1.69 Million Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 124.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,517 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,778 shares during the quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $354,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $2,739,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 60,354 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,532,000 after acquiring an additional 8,920 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,086 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 2,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 233.2% in the first quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 59,536 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,498,000 after purchasing an additional 41,669 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. Bank of America boosted their price target 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $41.26 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $173.69 billion, a PE ratio of 17.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.40 and a 52 week 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.37.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

About Verizon Communications

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).