Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Bought by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 114,083 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 3,673 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $5,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after purchasing an additional 17,855 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $92,445,000 after purchasing an additional 57,583 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,954,357 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $222,500,000 after buying an additional 129,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 579,713 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $26,035,000 after buying an additional 18,346 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $41.15 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.41. The stock has a market cap of $173.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.81 and a 1-year high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.59%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. TD Cowen raised 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. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.37.

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).