Prospera Financial Services Inc Increases Stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 149,156 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 33,900 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $6,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.8 %

VZ stock opened at $41.92 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $42.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.49. The stock has a market cap of $176.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.20 and a twelve month high of $45.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were 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 6.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of 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 target price 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.37.

About Verizon Communications

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).