B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Makes New $16.95 Million Investment in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 377,323 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock, valued at approximately $16,945,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $11,678,000 after acquiring an additional 37,732 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $9,095,000 after buying an additional 17,855 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 57,583 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 129,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 3.3% in the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 579,713 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $26,035,000 after buying an additional 18,346 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Stock Down 0.8 %

VZ traded down $0.33 on Tuesday, hitting $41.92. The company had a trading volume of 9,798,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,551,691. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.47. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.20 and a 12-month 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 has a market capitalization of $176.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is 116.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VZ shares. Raymond James raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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).