Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC Purchases 31,585 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 174.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,667 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,585 shares during the period. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,626 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 54,926 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $41.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $175.33 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $43.03 and its 200 day moving average is $41.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.93 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VZ. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Company 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).