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

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 6.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after purchasing an additional 5,936,009 shares during the quarter. Verizon Communications accounts for 0.9% of Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 2.41% of Verizon Communications worth $4,548,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VZ. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $250,312,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 4,520.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,815,534 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $216,266,000 after buying an additional 4,711,309 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 112.6% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 6,574,910 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $273,507,000 after acquiring an additional 3,481,936 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,040,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 37.9% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,973,838 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $287,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,951 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VZ shares. 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 research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:VZ opened at $42.14 on Thursday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.46 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.39 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.50.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS 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 business had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.44%. This is an increase from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Verizon Communications's payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

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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