Destination Wealth Management Grows Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Destination Wealth Management raised its holdings in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 488,858 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after acquiring an additional 23,030 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management's holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $21,955,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $48,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,930 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew 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 valued at $92,445,000 after purchasing an additional 57,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on VZ. Scotiabank upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $46.50 to $47.25 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.46.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

NYSE:VZ traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $42.08. The stock had a trading volume of 11,149,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,359,039. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.44. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.46 and a 12 month high of $45.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. Verizon Communications's revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 116.81%.

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).