Motiv8 Investments LLC Buys 2,460 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Motiv8 Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 21,722 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,460 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 50.4% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 883 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of VZ traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $41.38. 19,717,360 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,607,941. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.34 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $174.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $43.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.29.

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

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.55%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 101.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.37.

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).