Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Acquires 81,528 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 750,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 81,528 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for about 0.6% of Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $33,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased 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 acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $33,000. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of VZ traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $40.48. 21,305,883 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,749,596. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.40 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $43.11 and a 200-day moving average of $41.38. The stock has a market cap of $170.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VZ. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned 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 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).