Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Holdings Lifted by Altrius Capital Management Inc

Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,609 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,852 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $354,000. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 383,641 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $16,098,000 after acquiring an additional 45,479 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. boosted its stake in Verizon Communications by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 64,789 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,719,000 after purchasing an additional 11,775 shares during the period. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,263,000. Finally, Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $837,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on VZ. Bank of America raised 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. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Verizon Communications stock traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $40.97. 3,022,896 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,513,135. The company has a market cap of $172.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.41. 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 52 week low of $35.93 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.62%. The ex-dividend date was 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 116.81%.

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).