Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ Shares Bought by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 388,839 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,157 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $17,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Advantage Trust Co grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 549.5% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 591 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth $29,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 739.5% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 680 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane cut Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Verizon Communications from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. BNP Paribas lowered Verizon Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.47.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of VZ opened at $39.83 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $47.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $167.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.33.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.9%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.