Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Stake Raised by Crescent Grove Advisors LLC

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 124.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,517 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 20,778 shares during the quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $1,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its stake 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 worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in Verizon Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. 62.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Tigress Financial upped their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen increased 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. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.17. 21,950,454 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,574,658. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.43. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.40 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. The firm's revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.678 dividend. This is a boost from Verizon Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.59%. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

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).