Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stock Holdings Increased by Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 41.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,567 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 25,536 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $250,312,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after buying an additional 4,711,309 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 112.6% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $273,507,000 after buying an additional 3,481,936 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.6% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $536,791,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,247 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 37.9% in the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $287,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,951 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded down $0.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.77. 5,782,062 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,552,740. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.31 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.33. 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 has a market capitalization of $175.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.42.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

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).