Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Position Lifted by Windle Wealth LLC

Windle Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 162,931 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 7,178 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications makes up 4.0% of Windle Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Windle Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $7,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,581,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,887 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,466,446,000 after purchasing an additional 535,322 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $678,739,000 after purchasing an additional 104,447 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,127,360 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $541,372,000 after buying an additional 936,823 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $536,791,000 after buying an additional 2,040,247 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup lifted 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. Finally, TD Cowen lifted 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE VZ opened at $42.29 on Tuesday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.20 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.47.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.41%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

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).