Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Purchased by OmniStar Financial Group Inc.

OmniStar Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 90.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 42,460 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,178 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for approximately 1.4% of OmniStar Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. OmniStar Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,910,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,267,175 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $14,739,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,963 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,581,848,000 after buying an additional 1,106,887 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 535,322 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $678,739,000 after buying an additional 104,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 7.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,127,360 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $541,372,000 after acquiring an additional 936,823 shares during the period. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VZ shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.31.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

VZ stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $44.12. The stock had a trading volume of 4,417,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,371,256. The stock has a market cap of $185.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.28. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.26 and a 1-year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $32.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.15%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.12%.

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).