Insight Folios Inc Acquires 11,027 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Insight Folios Inc grew its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 184,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,027 shares during the period. Verizon Communications comprises approximately 3.0% of Insight Folios Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Insight Folios Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $8,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 50.4% in the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on VZ shares. TD Cowen upped 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $41.38 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $174.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $43.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.30. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.34 and a 52-week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.55%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

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).