Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $4.55 Billion Stock Holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. Verizon Communications makes up 0.9% of Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $4,548,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of VZ stock opened at $42.14 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $177.39 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $42.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.50. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.46 and a 12-month high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its earnings results 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 7.30% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.678 per share. This is an increase from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.44%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VZ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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).