Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Portside Wealth Group LLC

Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 78,435 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,173 shares during the quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $3,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth about $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $40.55 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.37. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.40 and a 12-month high of $45.36. The firm has a market cap of $170.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.62 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 the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on VZ. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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).