Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. Has $2.54 Million Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lowered its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,639 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 744 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 58,509 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,455,000 after buying an additional 892 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,650 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,642 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 110,651 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,643,000 after purchasing an additional 2,776 shares during the last quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 42,606 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,788,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accel Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 10,197 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on VZ. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Raymond James raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America upped 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. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $41.33 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.13 and a 200-day moving average of $41.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.84 and a 1 year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.12%.

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).