Goldstone Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Goldstone Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 9,999 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $449,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 69,205 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,108,000 after buying an additional 1,477 shares in the last quarter. Solidarity Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.2% in the third quarter. Solidarity Wealth LLC now owns 167,599 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $7,527,000 after acquiring an additional 5,257 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 9.2% in the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,463 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 4.4% during the third quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 483,223 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $21,702,000 after purchasing an additional 20,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 81,790 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $3,506,000 after purchasing an additional 5,470 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of VZ opened at $41.28 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $43.14 and its 200 day moving average is $41.32. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.67 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.76 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G 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.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.57%. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on VZ. 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 research note on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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).