Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 174.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,667 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 31,585 shares during the quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $2,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 38,357,031 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,581,848,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106,887 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 35,561,841 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $1,466,446,000 after purchasing an additional 535,322 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,458,264 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $678,739,000 after buying an additional 104,447 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,127,360 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $541,372,000 after buying an additional 936,823 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,016,271 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $536,791,000 after buying an additional 2,040,247 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.78 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,482,452 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,991,828. The company has a market capitalization of $175.33 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.93 and a fifty-two week high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $43.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. Verizon Communications's revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is 116.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average 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).