Bridges Investment Management Inc. Buys 4,731 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,003 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 4,731 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on 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 target price 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, KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

VZ stock opened at $40.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $170.41 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.40 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $43.11 and its 200 day moving average is $41.38.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend yield of 6.70%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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).