Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Buys 8,631 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 89,181 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,631 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter valued at about $1,370,000. Romano Brothers AND Company boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 127,320 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $5,718,000 after buying an additional 3,425 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 33,192 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,491,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the period. SimpliFi Inc. increased its position in Verizon Communications by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. SimpliFi Inc. now owns 28,187 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $216,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,711,309 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp downgraded Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $41.86 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $43.05 and its 200-day moving average is $41.29. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.34 and a twelve month high of $45.36. 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 has a market capitalization of $176.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.62, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. 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).