Ingalls & Snyder LLC Grows Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Ingalls & Snyder LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,258 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 1,060 shares during the quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Apella Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.6% in the second quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 14,192 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $586,000 after buying an additional 883 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $314,000. Cullinan Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 45.9% during the second quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 12,400 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 8.0% during the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 69,491 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.5% during the second quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 72,021 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $2,970,000 after purchasing an additional 5,026 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.5 %

VZ traded up $0.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $44.05. The stock had a trading volume of 2,354,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,377,248. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.70. The company has a market capitalization of $185.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.46 and a twelve month high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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).