BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Acquires 1,056,863 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 65.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,663,502 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 1,056,863 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned about 0.06% of Verizon Communications worth $119,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc raised its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 137.6% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.7 %

VZ opened at $42.22 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 stock's fifty day moving average is $42.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.50. The company has a market capitalization of $177.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. 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 firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.42%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VZ. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group increased 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Verizon Communications from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine 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 currently 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).

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